No Such Thing as Coincidences
by heiressofanor
Summary: A BtVS/AtS/HP crossover in which there is a slew of long-lost realatives, undiscovered magical potential, surprises, and a whole lot of coincidences...if there is such a beast. OotP/AU AtS S5. OCs. Rated for language you have been warned! REVISED
1. Prologue Pt1: Never Give Up

**To Anyone who has been reading this story: I am finally done editing what I have written and making my chapters (which were becoming ****successively** longer) a more normal length. Almost every chapter I had previously posted has had something changed in it, but I don't have enough time to get all my chapters posted at once. There WILL be chapters that I have never posted before, but I can't promise when I will get them up- I am a full time college student with a part time job and thus have almost no, what do you call it? Free Time? Whatever that is, I don't have any of that, so chapters will get posted as I have time. Sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoy the story!  


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**Disclaimer: I do _not_ in any way, shape, or form own anything having to do with Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Angel...no matter how much I might wish otherwise.**

**DO NOT READ IF: **

**1. You don't like OCs**

**2. You don't like stories where characters from Buffy/Angel find out they're related to HP characters**

**3. You don't like stories where Buffy/Angel characters are Hogwarts alumni**

**4. You don't like stories where Buffy/Angel characters find out they have magical abilities/talents**

**Warning:** Contains excessive swearing by multiple characters- you have been warned! :)

**Spoilers: **Buffy Season 1-7, Angel Season 1-4, and HP Book 1-4

**Setting: **Takes place mostly during Angel Season 5 and HP OotP. Angel Season 5 is AU, OotP will be close to cannon, but with some minor changes. (**Note: **In this, Harry & Co are born in 1987/88 and graduate Hogwarts in 2006, MWPP & Co are born in 1965/66 & graduate Hogwarts in 1984)

**P****airings: **Lots, including various OCs- if you want to know specifically READ, or ask & I might tell...maybe. ;)

**A/N: **My OCs have become so ingrained in HP in my mind that I can't write anything remotely related to HP without them, so if you don't like, don't read. Oh yes, and many of my OCs are a joint creation with LunarPhoenix13 (LYLAS Phoe!). Here's a brief overview of the main ones:

**-Mary Evans-Potter:** Harry's twin sister (older by 2 mins), half of The Dangerous Duo, Heiress of Anor, bff of Cassi Black

**-Cassiopeia Black (Cassi): **Sirius's daughter by Luna Dumbledore, the other half of The Dangerous Duo, Heiress of Merlin, bff of Mary Evans-Potter

**-Jessica Martini (Jessi): **Remus's best friend, Sirius's lover, famous dancer, 5th Marauder (Spotts), Unattainable (group of G girls same year as Marauders)

**-Luna Dumbledore Black: **Albus Dumbledore's niece, raised by Albus, daughter of Aberforth Dumbledore, mother of Cassi & Orion Black, wife of Regulus Black, Unattainable

**-Gareth Malfoy (Gary)/Orion Black (Rion): **son of Luna & Regulus Black, adopted by his godfather Lucius Malfoy upon Luna's death, same year as Fred & George (Slytherin)

**-Regina Jordan Johnson (Gina): **Angelina's mother, Lee Jordan's aunt, Unattainable

**-Alexander Evans (Alex): **Lily & Petunia's older brother, raised Mary, Muggle

**-Melinda Santos (Lindy): **Jessi's daughter by her Spanish husband Carlos Santos, Ginny's best friend, year behind Ginny

**-Chandler & Charisma Chance (Chan & Riz): **twins from Africa, Chan is Neville's bff, Riz is Hermione's bff, same year as Mary & Harry

**~Reviews are welcome & much appreciated, but please, NO FLAMES!~  
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**Prologue: How It All Began**

**Part 1: Never Give Up  
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_**April 21, 1980**_**: **Molly Weasley née Prewett was a bit reluctant to leave her infant son with her two rambunctious older brothers. It wasn't that she didn't trust them—because she did—she was just reluctant to leave little Danny Weasley with _anyone, _really. Danny was only three months old and he was a very small and delicate baby, unlike his big brother Bill; Bill had been much bigger by the time he had reached three months. Bill, her baby boy, her first born, was one and a half and he was already proving to be as much of a handful as her brothers had ever been. Little Danny, however, was another story entirely. Danny was so calm and quiet; he rarely ever fussed or cried, instead he just stared solemnly at the world around him with his big stormy blue eyes, drinking everything in.

"Molly, the boys will be fine with your brothers for a few hours," said Arthur Weasley, snapping his wife out of her reverie.

Molly sighed wistfully at baby Danny, who was sitting solemnly in his baby seat watching his twenty-four-year-old Uncle Gideon making funny faces at him in an attempt to get him to laugh.

"Go on, you lovebirds, have some fun," said Gideon's twin brother, Fabian, shooing his sister and her husband out the door. "Gid an' I've got things under control here. Sides, we got Lil' Billy here to keep us in line, righ' bud?"

"Righ' Nucle Fabby," said Bill, a silly grin plastered across his small, freckled face.

Molly smiled fondly at her firstborn as Arthur ruffled their son's bright red hair. "Alright, Bill," said Arthur fondly. "You take care of your baby brother and your uncles for us, okay?"

"Kay, Daddy," said little Bill, his grin growing even wider and his bright blue eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Be _good_," said Molly hugging her son tightly. She turned to her second oldest brother. "Fabian—"

"I know the rules, Molls," said Fabian Prewett, putting a comforting hand on his little sister's shoulder. "Don't worry; Gid and I have everything under control. You two lovebirds go and have some fun now, ya?"

Molly smiled at her big brother and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks again, Fab."

"No problem, baby sis."

"C'mon, Molly," said Arthur, smiling at the love radiating from his wife; Molly Weasley had the biggest heart of anyone he had ever known.

"Alright, Arthur," said Molly with a sigh. "We'll be back to pick up the boys around midnight. _Please_ don't let them stay up too late," added Molly, turning once again to her redheaded twin brothers. "Danny needs his sleep; he's a very fragile baby, you know. And he likes to—"

"Molly," said Gideon Prewett, coming over to his sister, baby Danny in his arms, "we know the routine—you've _only_ told us about fifty times tonight alone, not to mention every other time we've done this. You go and have some adult time with your husband tonight. I promise; you have _nothing_ to worry about."

Molly gave a sigh of defeat, hugged Gideon, and kissed baby Danny on the forehead before allowing Arthur to lead her out of the house. Once outside of the wards, the young couple apparated to Diagon Alley in London for their nice, quiet evening out.

**XXXX**

"Molly, the boys are fine," said Arthur for what felt like the thousandth time that night. "You just checked on them ten minutes ago and your brothers said they both went to sleep _hours_ ago."

"What time is it?" Molly asked worriedly, ignoring her husband.

Arthur glanced at his watch. "It's 11:55, Molly. Five minutes later than when you last asked."

"We should leave," said Molly, fidgeting slightly.

"I'm sure everything's fine, Molls," Arthur said soothingly as he signaled the waiter that they were ready for the bill.

Molly sighed deeply. "I'm sorry Arthur," she said softly. "I know you must think I'm being terribly foolish, but I just can't seem to shake the feeling that something's not quite right tonight."

Arthur had learned early on to trust his wife's eerily accurate intuition and now was certainly no different. "We'll leave as soon as we get the bill, alright dear?" he said comfortingly.

Molly gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Arthur," she said. "I'm sorry to cut our evening out short, but…"

Arthur took his wife's small hand in his much larger one and smiled gently at her. "It's alright Molly. I can see how important this is to you. We'll go to your brothers,' get the boys, and then we'll go home. Hopefully that will ease your mind some."

Molly nodded distractedly as Arthur let go of her hand to fish around in his pocket for the money to pay the bill. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly, _horribly_ wrong…

**XXXX**

_**April 22, 1980**_**: **It was five after twelve by the time Molly and Arthur finally apparated back to Prewett Manor. Molly shrieked and nearly fainted when she saw what was waiting for them and Arthur wasn't much better off (he didn't shriek, though if the set of his jaw was any indication he desperately wanted to scream): It was the Dark Mark, floating above the charred mansion. Molly broke into a run and burst into the house, Arthur hard on her heels. She froze in horror at the sight before her.

Arthur took one look at the scene and gave his wife's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I'm going to contact the Ministry, Molly," he said quietly. Molly simply nodded as her redheaded husband left to floo the Ministry, leaving her alone. When the aurors finally arrived on the scene, Molly was still standing frozen in the entry hall staring at the lifeless bodies of her elder brothers, silent tears streaming down her pale face. By the look of the room and the presence of two stunned Death Eaters, the redheaded men had put up a spectacular fight before the killing curses were finally fired (later, after much interrogation and a liberal use of Veritaserum, it would become know that Fabian and Gideon fought bravely against no less than five Death Eaters and went down like the true heroes they were).

Arthur silently walked over to his wife and stroked her short and curly, red hair. "Molly," he said quietly, "the aurors are here." She simply nodded. "They're looking for the boys," he added hesitantly.

Molly looked up sharply. "They-they're not—" she couldn't bring herself to say the dreaded word.

Arthur's normally vibrant blue eyes looked as haunted as his wife's normally warm brown ones. "I don't know," he said quietly, his voice strained. "Th-there are no other bodies, but…" he trailed off, unable to finish the thought. The redheaded couple held each other silently, hoping and praying that their babies were all right.

Molly and Arthur were suddenly startled out of their nearly catatonic state by the cries of an unfamiliar auror. "Oi! We got a live one out here!"

Molly and Arthur started, looking at each other before running through the house and out into the backyard where they found, coming out of the woods, a tall bespectacled man with messy black hair and bright blue eyes. On closer inspection, Molly saw that the black-haired man was carrying a small redheaded boy in his arms.

"BILL!" shrieked Molly, running at full speed to the man holding her eldest baby. Arthur followed his wife, tears of relief running down his pale, freckled cheeks. Molly slowed down as she reached the auror holding her son. "Please, is my son alright?" she asked, fear flooding her voice.

The auror turned his piercing azure gaze on the redheaded woman. "He's alive, Mrs. Weasley," he responded kindly, "but he's received a nasty blow to the head. I don't know just how bad it is; I think the best thing would be to take him to St. Mungo's as soon as possible."

Arthur held out his hands to take his son from the black-haired man. Once he was safely in his arms, he seemed to relax a bit. "Thank you," the twenty-two-year-old man said sincerely before turning and heading back to the house.

Molly didn't move. "Is there anything I can do for you, Mrs. Weasley?" asked the bespectacled man gently.

Molly turned her tearstained face to the older man. "It's Molly," she said. "Thank you, Auror…"

"Potter. Christian Potter, but you can call me Chris."

"Chris. Thank you for finding my Bill. But…" she trailed off, tears pouring down her face.

"What is it?" he asked gently, putting a comforting hand on her back.

"M-my baby!" she sobbed. "D-did you find him?"

Chris was confused. "Your husband just—"

"No!" cried Molly. "My Danny! H-he's only just three months old! He's so small, so fragile…he never cries, you know. Not even when he's hungry or scared…please, where's my baby?"

Chris looked sadly at the small, sobbing, freckled woman in front of him. "I'm sorry Molly," he said softly. "We haven't found anyone else…" He looked at the distraught Molly Weasley and his heart broke; he couldn't imagine losing his son James, or the baby he and his wife were expecting in six months time. "I promise, we'll do everything we can to find your son—_I'll_ do everything I can," he said resolutely.

Molly looked up at her little boy's rescuer, a miniscule smile flitting briefly across her grief-stricken face. "Thank you, Aur- Chris," she choked out. "Please, please find him. I-I know he's alive, I just know it…don't ask me how, I just have this feeling…"

Chris smiled softly. "My wife calls that a mother's intuition; she's the same with our son."

Molly blinked. For all she was a mother and a wife, she was still only a twenty-year-old woman who had just lost her brothers, her protectors. It was nice to have someone besides Arthur to care about her.

"So I'm not crazy," she said softly.

Chris smiled slightly. "No, you're not crazy Molly. If you need anyone to talk to, feel free to contact me," he offered, hoping to bring this broken woman some small comfort. "Or if you need another woman to talk to, feel free to contact my wife; she's a healer at St. Mungo's. Her name's Joan Potter.

Molly sniffed and gave the tiniest of smiles. "Th-thank you, Chris," she said softly. "It means a lot to know that you care, even though we're practically strangers."

"It's no problem, really Molly. Besides, I know Arthur from work—he's a good man. He talks about you and your boys all the time, you know."

Molly gave a small, sad smile. "I-I'd better go; I need to see how Bill's doing," she said. "Th-thank you again, Chris, f-for everything."

"Let me know how that son of yours is doing, alright?" he said, giving the young redheaded woman a quick hug.

"Of course," she whispered. "A-and please, find my baby. _Please_."

Chris nodded, his throat constricting with emotion. "I'll never give up, Molly, I swear it."

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**~Read and Review Much Appriciated! Please No Flames! :)~**


	2. Prologue Pt2: Unwanted

**Prologue: How It All Began**

**Part 2: Unwanted**

_**May 2, 1980**_**:** Bellatrix Black sat stock still on the marble counter of the bathroom at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, staring blankly at the results of the hated test in front of her.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," she said loudly. "Bloody fucking hell!" She let out a primal scream as she slid gracefully off the counter and threw the empty potion bottle as hard as she could (which was _quite_ hard) at the wall, shattering both the bottle and the mirror it had hit.

A timid knock sounded on the door. "Trixie?" came the soft, cold voice. "Are you alright in there?"

Bellatrix wrenched the door open forcefully, her insane grey eyes even more wild than normal. "What the bloody hell do you want, Cissy?" she asked sharply.

The petite blonde almost eleven-year-old stared up at her eldest sister, blinking her cold, ice-blue eyes. "You were yelling, Trixie," she said simply. "I wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"I'm fan-fucking-tastic, Narcissa," Bellatrix growled, her long raven curls falling wildly around her face.

Narcissa's eyes widened at her almost seventeen-year-old sister's rather colorful language. "Is this because Andy left to live with that- that _mudblood_?" she whispered anxiously, spitting out the word as if it were a disease that she might catch.

"You would do well to _never_ speak the name of that _blood-traitor_ again, Cissy," Bella growled. "_She_ is _no_ sister of ours."

"But she's not yet fifteen," argued Narcissa, eyes wide as saucers, "surely mother can make her come home, whether _she_ wants to or not."

Bellatrix gave a harsh laugh, her cold, insane grey eyes flashing dangerously. "And why would we want a blood-traitor like _her_ soiling The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black," she snapped. "Just forget about _her_, Narcissa. From this day forward, _I_ am your only sister. When you see _her_ at school, you would do well to ignore _her_ completely. _She_ no longer belongs in our family; Aunt Walburga has already burnt _her_ off the tapestry. _She_ is dead to us now."

Narcissa tilted her head to the side, her silky blonde locks flowing gracefully down her back as she did so. "What if we could make _her_ leave the mudblood? Could _she_ come home to us then?"

Bellatrix stepped forward menacingly. "Poor naïve Narcissa," she hissed mockingly. "Once a blood-traitor, always a blood-traitor. I don't think your future _husband_ will much care for that attitude from _you_."

Narcissa's big blue eyes widened. "W-what do you mean by that?" she whispered, shocked.

Bellatrix shook her head and gave her baby sister a scathing look. "Lucius Malfoy," she said simply. "You've been promised to him since your birth, Narcissa, and once you turn seventeen, you _will_ marry him. One broken marriage contract is more than enough shame upon our family."

Narcissa nodded, eyes wide. "So _she_—"

"The _blood-traitor_ was promised to Ferdinand Avery," Bellatrix replied harshly. "Just as _you_ are promised to Lucius Malfoy and _I_ to Rodolphus Lestrange. Now, I am very busy right now and do not wish to discuss such _filth_ any longer. _You_ will go pretty yourself up, Narcissa," she sneered. "Lucius is coming over for dinner this evening and you are to be formally presented to him since you are starting at Hogwarts this September."

"Yes Bellatrix," Narcissa replied dutifully before obeying, turning from her seething sister and gliding gracefully out of the room.

After Narcissa left, Bellatrix quickly locked the door of the bathroom with her wand and cast a silencing charm for good measure; she, her parents, and her sister were guests of her Aunt Walburga, her Uncle Orion, and her cousins Sirius and Regulus—it would _not_ do well for any of them to hear what was sure to be her _extremely_ inappropriate outburst.

Double checking her locks and her silencing spell, Bellatrix finally gave into her frustration and screamed with all her might. "LUCIUS MALFOY, YOU _FUCKING_ BASTARD, YOU GOT ME _PREGNANT_, YOU BLOODY ASSHOLE!"

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_**December 14, 1980**_**:** "Just get the bloody thing _out_ of me!" Bellatrix hissed menacingly at the scared-looking healer trying to help her.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like a pain-killing potion, Ms. Black?" asked the mediwizard kindly.

"NO, YOU FUCKING IDIOT! I JUST WANT THIS DAMN _THING_ OUT OF ME!" Bellatrix screamed at the old man.

"Ms. Black, please understand, I can't just make—"

"THE HELL YOU CAN'T!" Bellatrix screamed at the frazzled grey-haired mediwizard. "USE SOME FUCKING POTION OR SOMETHING, JUST GET IT _OUT_!"

The pain, Bellatrix could handle, it was this _feeling_ she couldn't handle; the feeling of something growing inside of her, making her…_feel_. She was a cold hearted bitch and proud of it; she'd be damned if she was going to let some bastard kid change that.

The mediwizard held up his hands in defeat. "Alright, Ms. Black, I'll see what I can do." He waved his wand at the door and three seconds later a tall, middle-aged brunette witch stepped into the room. "Ms. Black, this is Assistant Healer Maybelle. She'll be taking care of you while I go see if I can't find a potion—"

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE! I JUST WANT TO GET THIS _THING_ OUT OF ME _NOW_!"

Muttering under his breath about ungrateful, hormonal pregnant women, the mediwizard stalked out of the room, leaving the young assistant healer to deal with the screaming, cursing seventeen-year-old.

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"Congratulations Ms. Black, it's a girl," said Healer Terse wearily, holding out the small child to Bellatrix. Sixteen hours after she had first come into St. Mungo's, Bellatrix's baby had finally arrived.

"I don't want to touch that bloody _thing_," Bellatrix snapped irritably, folding her hands stubbornly across her chest.

Healer Terse's eyes widened in shock. "Now Ms. Black, surely you don't mean—"

"Of course I damn well mean that!" she snapped at him, her grey eyes flashing dangerously. "I wanted the fucking thing out, and now it bloody well is. End of story."

"Ms. Black—"

"Stop 'Ms. Black'-ing me, Terse," she snapped irritably. "I want nothing to do with that fucking _thing_. Put it up for adoption or something."

"What about the fath—"

Bellatrix's eyes flashed dangerously. "That bloody bastard doesn't get a fucking say in this," she said tersely. "_He's_ not the one who had to walk around with that fucking _thing_ inside of him for nine months, at school, making him _feel_ things!"

The mediwizard sighed wearily, running his hand through his thinning grey hair. "If you're sure Ms. Black…" he said.

"Absolutely," she snapped.

He sighed in resignation. "Alright. I'll still need some information from you, though."

"Fine," she snapped back. "Ask away; the sooner I can get out of this bloody hell-hole, the better."

"Alright," began Healer Terse, beckoning Maybelle forward to take down what Bellatrix said. "Mother's full name," he asked.

"Mine or the brat's?" she snapped.

"_Your _full name," sighed the mediwizard wearily.

"Bellatrix Cassandra Black."

"Date of birth?"

"September 6, 1963."

"Blood status?"

"Pureblood," she said proudly.

"Father's full name."

"Lucius Scorpius Malfoy," she said flatly.

The mediwizard stopped short. "Are you _quite_ sure, Ms. Black?"

"Of course I'm fucking sure," she snapped at him. "I'm the one who bloody well had sex with him, aren't I? Now, what's next?"

Healer Terse heaved a sigh. "Father's date of birth."

"November 4, 1962."

"Blood status?"

"Pureblood," she said again.

Healer Terse looked uncomfortably at the seething raven-haired beauty in the bed in front of him. "You'll need to pick a name for your daughter, Ms. Black."

"Can't _you_ do that?" she snapped.

He shook his head. "Hospital policy."

"Fine," she snapped. She let her mind wander before saying the first thing that popped into her mind. "Fidelius Druella Malfoy."

The mediwizard nodded. "Perfect. Thank you Ms. Black, that's all I needed from you."

She heaved a sigh of relief. "Can I go now? My boyfriend's family is hosting an exclusive Christmas party and I want to go," she lied through her teeth. Truthfully it was only a half-lie—there really _was_ a party, but it was an initiation party for some new Death Eaters, including her fiancée Rodolphus Lestrange.

The mediwizard, however, simply shook his head at Bellatrix's request. "I'm sorry Ms. Black, but I must insist that you stay the night. We need to keep an eye on you to make sure there are no complications from the birth."

Bellatrix growled under her breath and frowned at the mediwizard. "So I can leave tomorrow?"

"Barring any complications," he replied. "Now, why don't you spend some time with your daug—"

"Take it away," she said sharply.

"Pardon?"

"Are you fucking deaf?" she said angrily. "I said take the damn _thing_ away! I _don't_ want to spend anymore fucking time with that fucking _brat_! I've had it inside of me for over nine bloody months, I just want it _gone_!"

Startled at the young pureblood's attitude, but wanting to avoid yet another scene, the mediwizard gestured for Maybelle to take the baby and leave. Bellatrix didn't even bother to watch as Fidelius Malfoy was taken away; she could have cared less and she sincerely hoped that she'd never have to see that "fucking brat" again.

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	3. Prologue Pt3: Separated

**Prologue: How It All Began**

**Part 3: Separated**

_**May 18, 1981**_**:** "Alright, Andromeda, one last push!"

Andromeda Tonks née Black gave a shriek as she pushed with all her might. "Just get the damn thing out of me!" the almost sixteen-year-old screeched at the mediwitch.

Suddenly a baby's cry could be heard through the room. "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Tonks, it's a boy," said Healer Morgan Lesroy smiling. "Daddy, you can cut the cord so that Mummy can get this little boy's twin out."

"_TWIN!_" screeched Andromeda, seriously regretting her naïve insistence on abstaining from drugs or pain-killing potions. "WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME—_AAAAAAGHHHHHHH!_"

"That's it, Andromeda, push," coaxed the young, blonde mediwitch. "This one should come out a bit easier…"

* * *

_Twenty minutes later…_

"This is it, Andromeda, you're almost there!"

"I really hate you Ted!" screamed Andromeda as she once again pushed with all her might. "This is your bloody fault! _You_ did this to me! We are _never_ having another damn kid! _EVER!_"

"Whatever you say, Dromeda, dear," said Ted, allowing his beloved wife of eight months to crush his hand as much as she pleased.

"Damn straight," muttered Andromeda.

"Okay, Andromeda, this is it, push!"

With a scream of pain, Andy pushed with all her might, though she was now thoroughly exhausted; she had been in labor since yesterday morning and she hadn't even know that she was having twins at the time. Amazing that, really. With all their magic the healers failed to see that Andy was carrying twins instead of just the one.

"Congratulations, Mummy and Daddy, it's a girl," said Healer Lesroy. "Daddy, you wanna cut the cord on this one too?" Ted smiled and did as he was told.

After the twins were cleaned up and given a clean bill of health, they were finally handed over to their young parents. "Oh, look, Dromeda, his hair's only a shade or two lighter than yours! Oh, and look! He has my nose!" cooed the seventh year father happily.

Andromeda chuckled tiredly, understandably so as she had been in labor for nearly twenty four hours. "He has your eyes too, Teddy. Big, brown, chocolate eyes. Yum," she said, a contented smile on her porcelain face.

Ted chuckled. "And how's our baby girl, eh?" Ted looked over at his daughter. "Oh, look! She's got my hair, look at that! Oh, defiantly has your pretty little nose, Dromeda. Oh, looks like she's got the Black eyes though…" His face fell, recalling that he was the reason that Andromeda had been disowned by her family at such a young age.

Ted looked to Andromeda for her reaction. "So she's got cousin Siri's eyes, hm?" said Andromeda, referring to her fourth year cousin, the only member of her family she still spoke to besides her Uncle Alphard. "I think he's gonna get a kick out of that."

Ted chuckled, glad to see that this news wasn't upsetting the recently disowned fifth year mother. "He sure is," he said with a smile.

"Did you tell him?" asked the young new mother, suddenly; they had had to leave Hogwarts so quickly that she hadn't had time to tell Sirius the news herself.

"Of course Dromeda," said Ted, smiling at his lovely blue-eyed wife. "He's on his way over with his friends as we speak."

"Good," said Andromeda, giving a sigh of relief. "Can't very well have my favorite cousin not come see his godchildren."

Ted chuckled. "So how are you doing, my dear?"

"I'm honestly fine, Ted. A bit tired, but that's to be expected; I _did_ just deliver twins."

Ted chuckled happily. "So, have we decided on names yet, darling?"

"Hmm, I know we discussed Michael or Eustace, but I really don't like those."

"Me neither. I think those were ones my mum snuck in there." Ted paused and looked over at his sleeping son. "You know, I've always liked the name Alexander."

"Alexander," mused Andromeda. "Alexander Sirius Tonks. I like that."

Ted kissed her hand gently. "It's prefect, love." Andromeda gave a great big smile.

"Okay, now for the little princess," said Ted, brushing his large hand over his infant daughter's tiny head. He suddenly jumped a bit and gave a yelp of surprise, startling his wife.

"What's the matter, Ted?"

"S-she—h-her hair just changed color!"

Andromeda rolled over to look and her mouth dropped open at the sight of her peacefully slumbering child, currently sporting a mop of _lime green_ hair.

Just then the assistant healer walked in. "Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Tonks. I have your children's blood work back now. Everything seems just fine, except according to the blood tests, your little girl is a metamorphmagus."

"A what?" said Ted, frowning slightly.

"A metamorphmagus, Ted," said Andromeda patiently, silently signaling the assistant healer that she could leave, "is someone who can change their appearance at will without a wand. It's an ability you're born with; it's not something you can learn."

"Is it dangerous for her?" asked Ted concernedly.

Andromeda shook her head. "Not at all, Ted. Metamorphmagi are very rare, but it's an interesting power." Ted still looked a bit skeptical. Andromeda took his hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry, Teddy. It'll be okay, I promise."

Ted beamed at his beautiful wife. "Thanks love. Now, we need to pick a name for our little meta-whosie-whaddy—"

"Metamorphmagus," laughed Andromeda.

"Right, that," said Ted, a bit frazzled. "So, names…how about Katherine or Margaret?

Andromeda crinkled her small nose. "Too ordinary…"

"Right. Sybil? Calliope? Cassiopeia? Clytemnestra?"

"No, none of those seem quite right," pondered Andromeda, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I've got it!" she burst out suddenly. Ted raised his eyebrow in question. "Nymphadora. Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks. It's so pretty!"

"Are you sure, Dromeda?" asked Ted, skeptically.

Andromeda glared daggers at her Muggle-born husband. "Hey, who was the one in labor for twenty-four hours here, me or you?"

"Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks it is, then."

"Darn tootin'."

Ted rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself, "I never should have gotten her hooked on television, especially bloody _American_ television!"

"What was that, dear?"

"Nothing, nothing darling."

"Good. Cause I really need some good old-fashioned non-hospital tea right about now."

"Coming right up, dear," said Ted, mumbling to himself on the way out about ridicules names and stupid words you can't even pronounce. Luckily for him, Andromeda had chosen to take this time to fall asleep.

* * *

Andromeda's cousin Sirius Black came by an hour later with his friends James Potter, Jessica Martini, Peter Pettigrew, and a rather sickly looking Remus Lupin (it was the second day of the full moon and the young lycanthrope looked like he might pass out at any moment, yet he still insisted that he be there for Sirius's favorite cousin)—all Gryffindors, a fact Andromeda was proud of, even though she herself hadn't escaped the Black's Slytherin curse.

The five teens all ooh-ed and ah-ed over the babies until the nurse finally shooed them away. While they had been there, Andy had asked Sirius to be the twins' godfather. Nearly bouncing off the walls with delight, the hyperactive fifteen-year-old raven-haired boy had yelped out a great big "_YES!_" as he smothered his favorite cousin in a great big bear hug. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Ted and Andromeda asked Jessi to be the babies' godmother (she and Andy had spent a lot of time together since they were both so close to Sirius). The curly haired, honey-skinned brunette, though surprised, readily accepted; Andy had become something of a big sister to her in the past couple of years.

After the group of fourth years left, Ted and Andy were finally able to get a couple of hours sleep before Alex and Dora woke them up with their screaming. Grumbling sleepily about babies and "bloody evil husbands," Andromeda woke Ted, insisting that it was his turn to see what the babies wanted.

* * *

_**May 20, 1981**_**:** Andromeda collapsed wearily on the plush burgundy couch, hugging baby Alex close to her chest. She was finally home—well, technically it was Ted's parent's home, but still—and Merlin did it feel good.

Ted, holding baby Dora, sat down beside his wife. "My family's coming by later to see the babies," he said quietly.

Andromeda groaned. "Can't we get your family to disown you like mine did?" she groaned, only half-joking.

Ted laughed at his wife. "Sorry, Dromeda; we still need a place to stay till I finish school, get a job, and find us a place of our own. It'll be okay, I promise," he added, giving her a one-armed hug and a soft kiss on her forehead.

Andy absentmindedly stroked Alex's dark brown—almost black—hair. "Teddy," she said softly, "how are we going to explain Dora?" she asked suddenly. "Your parents are the only ones who know about magic; how are we going to explain to all your cousins why Dora keeps changing her hair and her eyes and her face and Merlin only know what else?"

Ted groaned. "Bloody hell, I'd forgotten about that." He gave a sigh and ran his free hand through his mousy brown hair. "I suppose we'll just have to play this one by ear."

Andy nodded thoughtfully, playing with her loose, waist-length ebony-black hair. "I suppose we will."

* * *

Andy and Ted were getting some much needed sleep before they had to leave their babies with Julia and Simon Tonks (Ted's parents) and head back to Hogwarts for their respective OWLs and NEWTs.

The afternoon had been exceptionally hard on them both. Ted's parents had invited over all twelve of his cousins (that is, six cousins and their respective spouses) and their collective sixteen children. They had all arrived around noon and stayed until eight at night. Ted and Andromeda had spent the majority of their visit watching Dora like a hawk and spiriting her away any time it looked like she was going to change in front of Ted's muggle relatives.

Andy and Ted were so deep asleep that they didn't hear the crackling of the baby monitor signaling that something had happened to the one in the nursery. They were so deep asleep that they didn't even hear Dora's wailing as she wondered where her twin was and why he wasn't with her anymore.

* * *

Tony Harris snickered to himself. His wife's fool of a cousin hadn't even noticed him slipping back into the house and neither had his overbearing parents or that teenage wife of his. Silently he had snuck up to the nursery, turned off the baby monitor, and snatched up the baby boy. Tony had never much cared for his wife's family, especially her cousin Ted; there was just something _weird_ about him—that and the fact that he was eighteen, still in school, and married to a girl who hadn't even had her sixteenth birthday yet.

Jessica Harris was barren. Tony hadn't known that little fact when he'd married her, but he certainly did now. They had been trying for six years to have a baby; they had checked with every doctor in the state of California and had finally come to England to visit her cousin before they had finally found out the truth.

As Tony swiftly left the Tonks house, he felt that he was fully justified in his actions. In his nearly permanent drunken state, he had somehow convinced himself that it was Jessica's family's fault that she couldn't have any children. If they had just moved her out of England sooner, maybe they would have a son of their own.

Except that now they did. Tony stared down at the small bundle in his arms, the baby's messy black-brown hair blending into the darkness. The stupid kid hadn't woken up at all.

Tony grunted as he slipped into the seedy bar his contact Jack had told him to meet him at. Inside he searched for Jack, finally finding the thirty-something good-for-nothing con artist sitting at a small booth in the far back. Tony grunted again as he slid into the seat across from Jack. "You got the papers?"

Jack silently handed the older man a manila folder. Tony flipped through the papers inside. One stated that one Alexander Sirius Tonks had been adopted by Anthony James Harris and Jessica Marina Lavelle Harris and another stated that Alexander Sirius Tonks's name had been changed to Alexander Lavelle Harris. Tony grunted approvingly. "Everything seems to be in order, then."

Jack raised his pale eyebrow. "I tol' yeh, didn' I?"

Tony snorted. "Yeah, sure kid. You got the tickets too?"

Jack handed Tony two airplane tickets. "Yer fligh' leaves in two hours an' yer wife's leaves tomorrow a' three."

Tony nodded, grabbed the folder and the tickets, and smacked a stack of bills on the table before standing up. "Anything goes wrong, I'll find you," he promised harshly.

Jack snorted. "Good luck wi' tha', then."

Barely containing his rage, Tony turned around, still clutching the sleeping baby, and stalked out of the bar.

An hour later, after a stop by the hotel to drop of Jess's ticket and leave her a note, Tony was on his way to the airport with Alex, ready to begin a new life as far away from his wife's damn cousin as possible.


	4. Prologue Pt4: Why Can't I Keep Her?

**Prologue: How It All Began**

**Part 4: Why Can't I Keep Her?**

_**March 18, 1986**_**:** The day started out like every other for Cordelia Potter. Upon waking, Nessa, her own personal house elf, helped her get dressed in a pretty, pale pink, flowered dress and white Mary Jane's. Once she was dressed, Cordy thanked Nessa (just as her mother had taught her to), padded softly over to the door, and left her room.

Skipping gleefully down the hallway, the tall, tanned five-year-old made her way to her parents' room. Reaching the door, she held out her small fist and knocked three times on the door.

"Who is it?" called out the melodic voice that she loved so much; this was her favorite part of the morning.

Tossing her long, chestnut curls over her shoulder she giggled and replied, "It is I, Princess Cordelia, requesting entrance to the queen's chambers."

"Fair maiden, do enter," called out the playful voice from within.

Cordy pushed open the door and saw her mother sitting in her usual spot brushing her long, wavy nut-brown tresses. Big chocolate eyes twinkling mischievously, Cordy bounded across the room and pounced on her mother's lap. "Morning Mummy," she giggled, hugging her mother tightly.

"Morning, Princess," her mother replied, smiling the special smile she saved just for her daughter. "What would you like me to do with your hair today?"

Cordy frowned thoughtfully, her sun-kissed nose crinkling slightly. "Can I have a pretty pink bow in my hair Mummy? _Please?_"

Joan Potter laughed at her daughter's antics. Kissing her cute little button nose lightly she replied, "Anything you like, Princess." Cordy gave a squeal of delight and sat down on her special stool in front of her mother and her mother took Cordy's special pink hairbrush and began their special daily mother-daughter bonding ritual.

* * *

At seven thirty on the dot Joan Potter dropped Cordelia off at Ms. Puddlemore's, a daycare center for magical children, just as she did every day. Giving her mother a quick peck on the cheek Cordy skipped off to play with her best friend, Dora Tonks.

"Hey Dora!" she cried, plopping herself on the floor beside her currently red-haired friend. Today Dora was dressed in a lime green skort, bright purple leggings, silver ballet flats, and a fluorescent orange t-shirt that read "Trouble" in big, black, block letters—it had obviously been her dad's morning to get her to daycare; Andromeda Tonks would _never_ have let her daughter out of the house dressed like _that_.

"Wotcher, Cor!" said Dora, smiling brightly, her currently turquoise eyes sparkling with mischief.

Cordy giggled happily. "What do you have planned for us today, Dora?" she asked sweetly, flipping her dark curls over her shoulder playfully.

Dora smiled brightly, playing with the end of her long red braid. "You see that kid over there?" she asked mischievously.

Cordy looked over where Dora was pointing. "The one with the red hair and freckles?" she said, crinkling her nose playfully as she spotted her friend and godbrother Charlie Weasley.

"Yup," nodded Dora happily. "He's here for just the day with his brothers," she quickly pointed out a taller redheaded boy with bright blue eyes and a smaller redheaded boy with glasses, "and I want to play a prank on them like Siri and his friends do," she declared brightly.

Cordy clapped her hands excitedly. "Ooo! Jamie will be _so_ happy! He _loves_ pranks!"

Dora smiled, her eyes changing to a mysterious amber color. "I know! We could be just like them!"

"Oh, what fun!" Cordy cried. Then she frowned thoughtfully. "So how _do_ you prank someone? Mummy won't let Jamie tell me till I'm older." She pouted at that.

Dora grinned happily. "Siri told me just what to do." She looked around conspiratorially before leaning close to Cordy and whispering the plan in her ear. Cordy squealed with delight as Dora laid out the plan for her.

* * *

"How many times do I have to tell you two, food is for eating _not_ for throwing!" Ms. Stacey yelled, exasperated, at the two guilty looking girls covered in applesauce and pumpkin juice sitting in front of her. "And what's more you soaked the poor Weasley boys with green paint!" she added, pointing over to the far corner where Ms. Lori was attempting to clean the paint off of the three currently green Weasleys.

"Sorry, Ms. Stacey," said Cordy, giving her best "innocent" puppy-dog pout.

"It was just a bit of fun," added Dora happily, her hair changing to green to match the paint she and Cordy had "spilled" on the Weasley brothers. "Siri and Jamie and their friends do it all the time!"

Ms. Stacey sighed in exasperation. "Girls, for the thousandth time, those boys—"

"Jessi's not a boy!" protested Dora indignantly, defending her godmother.

"Alright, those _teenagers_ are precisely that—_teenagers_. You two are _not_. You, Nymphadora, are only four and you, Cordelia, are only five!"

The girls looked guiltily at the floor. Just then the door burst open, admitting two frazzled-looking men. "What did they do this time?" asked the bespectacled black-haired man.

"Daddy!" cried little Cordy, jumping up and latching onto her father.

"Hey, baby girl," he said lovingly.

"Wotcher, Daddy," said Dora, grinning sheepishly at the brown haired man trying desperately to hide his smile.

"So what'd they do this time?" asked Ted Tonks curiously.

Ms. Stacey sighed in exasperation. "Nymphadora and Cordelia covered the Weasley boys with green paint and started a food fight at snack time."

Chris Potter was trying his hardest to hide his smile. He looked down at his sheepish-looking daughter. "Is this true, Cordelia," he said, trying to sound stern. "Did you and Dora paint your godbrothers green?"

Cordy looked sheepishly up at her father. "We just wanted to do pranks like Jamie and Siri and Remy and Jessi and Petey do," she said innocently.

"Dora?" asked Ted, glancing at his now blue-haired daughter. "Is this true."

Dora nodded her head proudly. "We want to be _just_ like them when we grow up," she stated matter-of-factly.

Ted and Chris looked at each other; they both knew they had to get out of there before they burst into laughter and caused their rambunctious daughters to never _ever_ take them seriously ever again. "Well, I think that as a punishment you two should have to play with the Weasley boys for the rest of the day," said Chris firmly, his lips threatening to quirk into a smile.

"Do we _have_ to?" the two little girls whined together.

"Yes," stated Ted simply. "Now, Auror Potter and I have to get back to work, so you two _be good_, understand?" he added sternly.

After getting their daughters to (grudgingly) promise to "be good" Chris and Ted left the room, quickly closing the door behind them. Once they were out of earshot, they looked at each other and burst into uncontrollable laughter; these meetings were becoming an almost daily occurrence for them, each one more exciting than the last.

"So, same time tomorrow?" Ted joked as he prepared to apparate back to his office in the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry.

"Sure thing," Chris joked back.

Grinning at each other and fighting back more laughter, the two men apparated back to work, not knowing that they would never see each other alive again.

* * *

"Dora! Charlie! Look at what I can do!" It was five o'clock and the parents would begin arriving in an hour to pick up their kids, but the three toddlers in question couldn't have cared less.

"Wicked!" cried Dora, clapping her hands as her hair changed from bright yellow to sea-foam green.

Charlie passed his hand underneath the floating teddy bear, honey brown eyes wide in awe. "How'd you do that, Cor?" he asked, fascinated.

Cordy shrugged her small shoulders. "Don't really know. I did it to my dolly last night too."

Dora's now sapphire blue eyes widened. "That's bloody brilliant, Cor!"

Cordy's smiled brilliantly, until she hear Ms. Stacey's sharp voice. "Nymphadora Tonks! I will _not_ tolerate that kind of language in this daycare!" she snapped, her silver-grey eyes flashing madly. "And Cordelia Potter,_ what_ do you think you are doing with that bear!"

"S-sorry, Ms. Stacey," Cordelia whispered, fighting back her tears. "I-I didn't mean to…i-it just s-sorta happened…"

Ms. Stacey's face softened a bit. "It's all right, Cordelia. I just don't want you children doing such things on purpose, understand? You're all far too young to be doing purposeful magic." All three children nodded their understanding. "Good," she said. "Now Nymphadora—"

The door burst open suddenly, cutting Ms. Stacey's tirade short. Looking over to see who had dared to disturb the children's haven, Ms. Stacey saw a frazzled looking young man with wire-rimmed glasses, messy black hair, and sad-looking hazel eyes. "Can I help you?" asked Ms. Stacey, gliding over to the visitor.

The man looked up sharply at Ms. Stacey. "I need to see Cordelia Potter right now," he said without hesitation.

"Sir, I'm afraid—"

"Jamie!" squealed Cordelia, recognizing her big brother. She jumped up off the floor, causing the bear to fall to the ground, and ran over to her brother, hugging him tightly around the knees.

"Hey Brownie," he said softly, kneeling down to her level. "How's my favorite little sister doing today?"

Cordy rolled her eyes at her big brother. "Jamie, I'm your _only_ sister!"

James pretended to be shocked. "Really? Are you _sure_?"

Cordy giggled. "Of course I'm sure, silly. What are you doing here?"

The smile that had crept across James's face while talking to his sister slowly faded. He slowly stood back up and faced Ms. Stacey. "Ms. Monahan," he said firmly, "I need to take my sister home early today; it's quite urgent." Stacey Monahan was about to protest, but something in James Potter's eyes made her decide otherwise. She nodded tersely in acceptance. "Thank you," said James, picking up his sister. "Let's go home now, Brownie."

"Kay, Jamie," she chirped happily, burying her face in her brother's worn, white t-shirt. Glancing over James's shoulder as he carried her out the door, Cordy called out to her friends, "Bye Charlie! By Dora! See you tomorrow!"

Had she been looking at her brother's eyes, she would have seen the sudden flash of pain at those seemingly innocent words; the very same words he himself had uttered to their parents just the night before...

* * *

James carried his baby sister down the hallway to the travel room where he threw some floo powder into the fire before crying out "Potter Manor" and stepping into the fire with Cordelia.

Seconds later the siblings found themselves shooting out of the living room fireplace. James dusted Cordy off before doing the same for himself. "Go to the kitchen and ask Bic to get you something to drink, okay Brownie?" ordered James.

Cordy tilted her head to the side. She could tell that there was something wrong with her brother; he looked so sad. "What's the matter, Jamie?" she asked innocently.

"I'll tell you in a minute, Brownie," he said sadly. "You just go ask Bic for that drink—and no caffeine or sugar, understand? I'll be right there; I just have to take care of something first."

Cordy squinted her big brown eyes, scrutinizing her brother for a moment. "Okay, Jamie," she finally said, giving her brother one last glace before bouncing off to bother the House Elves in the kitchen.

James watched his little sister bounce happily down the hall. He smiled sadly, wiping a tear from his bright hazel eyes. Today he would have to give innocent little Cordelia the worst news of her young life; today would inadvertently be the day that her innocence would die and there was absolutely nothing he could do to change that, as much as he might wish otherwise.

Taking a few moments to compose himself, James thought about how he was going to break the terrible news to his precious baby sister. Lost in his own thoughts, James didn't notice where he was until he found his nose pressed up against the kitchen door. Straightening himself up, he took a deep breath to compose himself before softly pushing the door open.

James couldn't help but smile sadly at the picture of innocence sitting before him. Little Cordelia was sitting on a stool at the island in the middle of the kitchen, dunking a chocolate chip biscuit (cookie) into her tall glass of milk while chattering away about her day to Bic and Nessa. James heart sunk in his chest—it was going to be up to him and him alone to shatter the beautiful innocence that was his precious baby sister.

With a heavy heart, James stepped forward into the kitchen toward Cordelia, clearing his throat loudly to make his presence know.

"Master James!" squeaked Bic fondly, prancing (yes, _prancing_) over to his young master. "Is there something Bic can be doing for young master?"

James smiled fondly at the young, enthusiastic house elf. "No thank you, Bic, I'm fine for now. I just need to speak with Cordy."

Bic nodded his head in understanding. "Of course, Master James. Nessa and Bic will be leaving Master James to speak with Mistress Cordelia now. Master James is calling Bic if Master James is needing anything," he stated before giving Nessa a nod. With a simple POP Nessa and Bic were gone from the kitchen, leaving James alone with Cordelia.

Forcing himself to smile, James pulled up a stool and sat down next to Cordy. "Want a biscuit, Jamie?" Cordy asked, holding out the aforementioned sweet. James took the biscuit wordlessly, but didn't eat it. The Potter siblings sat in silence for what seemed to James like hours (it was actually only two minutes), Cordy happily munching on her treat and James simply picking his apart.

Realizing that he couldn't put off the inevitable any longer, James gave a sigh and turned to Cordelia. "Brownie," he began slowly, "I have something very important to tell you."

Cordy cocked her head to the side, scrutinizing her brother. "What's wrong, Jamie?" she asked, innocently.

James heaved a sigh; no matter how much he practiced or how much thought about it, he would never truly be ready to place such a burden on his precious little sister. "Cordy, this isn't easy for me to say—I'm not sure exactly…" he trailed off. This conversation had gone _much_ more smoothly in his mind (then again, that was true for most things).

Cordy put her small hand on James's muscular arm. "'Skay, Jamie," she said. "Daddy already told me not to throw paint at Charlie an' Billy an' Percy anymore. Me'n Dora said we wouldn't—we swored it. OH! The wickedest thing happened today, Jamie! I showed Dora and Charlie this cool—"

James couldn't take it anymore. "THEY'RE DEAD, CORDELIA! MUM AND DAD ARE _DEAD_!" he exploded.

Cordy stared at James, her eyes growing as wide as saucers. Tears began to well up in her chocolate brown orbs. "Th-that's not funny, Jamie," she whispered. "Wh-why would you say something like that?"

Tears were now freely falling from James's hazel eyes. "I'm sorry, Brownie," he whispered, his head in his hands. "I-I didn't mean to tell you like that—it just slipped out—"

"Y-you're lying!" Cordy cried. "N-no! I-it can't be true! I-it just _can't_!"

James pulled Cordelia close and hugged her tight. "I'm so sorry," he whispered in her ear. "I wish it wasn't true, I really do, but…"

Cordy pulled away just enough to look up into her brother's eyes. "Th-they're really gone, aren't they?" she whispered, her face wet with tears. "Daddy was going to take me to Diagon Alley this weekend," she said softly, causing her brother to shed even more silent tears, "and Mummy promised to teach me how to make biscuits like a muggle."

James hugged his sister even tighter. "I'm so sorry, Cordy," he sobbed into her soft, brown hair. "I wish you didn't have to go through this pain; you're far too young…"

Cordy spoke so softly that James almost missed what she said next. "What happened to them? How did they die Jamie?"

James closed his eyes. How was he supposed to tell this innocent little creature that the most evil wizard of their time had had his minions—er, Death Eaters, that is—attack their parents in broad daylight in the middle of Diagon Alley? How was he supposed to tell her that they were killed simply because they were good and kind people who only wished to make the world a better place for future generations? How was he supposed to do this on his own?

"Cordelia," he began slowly, choosing his words carefully, "Mummy and Daddy were out at lunch and some very bad wizards attacked them. Th-they fought back, but…" James's eyes filled with tears yet again.

Cordy pulled back from her brother and looked him straight in the eye. "Why would someone do that?"

James sighed heavily. How was he supposed to explain the politics of the war to a five-year-old? Granted, she was an extremely bright and talented five-year-old, but she was still just a five-year-old nonetheless. "Because Mummy and Daddy disagreed with Voldemort."

Cordy tilted her head to the side. "But why would he do that?"

"Because he's a very evil man, Cordy. He thinks that purebloods are better than everyone else, and that anyone who doesn't agree with him should be killed."

"But _we're_ purebloods," said Cordy, confused. "I don't think that."

"_Exactly_, Brownie. And neither did Mum and Dad. That's why he had them killed."

Cordy fell into a thoughtful silence. What she said next started James. "J-James?" she said softly. "D-do you think…do you think Mummy and Daddy are in Heaven?"

James was startled to say the least. The Potters hadn't really been very religious, but that didn't mean that they hadn't believed in such things. James pondered Cordy's question for a moment. "You know what, Brownie," he finally said, a small, sad smile gracing his lips, "I think they are."

* * *

_**April 4, 1986**_**:** "What do you mean she has to go with _them_!"

The occupants of the living room of Potter Manor all gave a start at the yell that came from the small, private parlor where James and his best friend Sirius Black, who had been like a second son to the Potters, were currently speaking to the lawyer in charge of Christian and Joan Potter's will.

Cordy was sitting silently in her special chair beside the fireplace, staring into the flames while Charlie and Bill Weasley were trying to get her to smile; Molly Weasley (Cordy's godmother) was currently out of the room putting Percy and her newborn twins to sleep (at only three-days-old, Fred and George Weasley were already starting to give both of their fairly young parents grey hairs); Arthur Weasley (Cordy's godfather) was standing near the entrance of the room speaking quietly to Kingsley Shacklebolt, Chris Potter's protégé, about Merlin-only-knows-what; Remus Lupin, James and Cordy's cousin, was holding tightly onto a mug of coffee, keeping silent vigil over the children while casting occasional glances to the parlor door and the lone redheaded figure of Lily Evans, James' girlfriend—due any day with Remus's twins (they had dated for a while when James and Lily had broken up for a while)—who was pacing in front of the door; widowed Luna Black, Sirius's sister-in-law and Lily's best friend, was sitting in a comfy gold armchair holding her seven-month-old son Orion Black and fighting back her tears as she watched her and James's two-year-old son Cody Potter and her and Remus's one-year-old lycanthropic twins Callista and Cleopatra Lupin playing on the floor, completely oblivious to the tragedy that had recently occurred; Jessi Martini, Remus's best friend and one of the Marauders, was sitting Indian style on the floor with her best girl-friend Regina Johnson née Jordan, simply watching her and Remus's two-year-old twins, Derek and Diana Lupin, playing with Luna's children, Regina and Sirius' almost two-year-old son Paul, and her and Sirius's girls (three-year-old Liana, one-year-old Melody, and five-month-old Grace), and doing her very best impression of a rock as she tried to wrap her mind around yet another tragedy in her very young life.

Molly had just walked back into the room, child-free, when the parlor door suddenly banged open and a livid James Potter stormed out followed closely by a fuming Sirius Black. "They can't do this to us!" James fumed. "What gives them the bloody right to tear us apart? Don't they bloody well know that we're all each other have now?"

"Language, James!" snapped Molly sharply. "There are children in the room!"

Normally James would have apologized to Molly, but right now he just couldn't deal with her mothering on top of everything else. Throwing the room in general a dark look, James stormed out without speaking another word. Lily looked at Sirius, an unspoken question in her eyes. Sirius nodded his head and jerked it in the direction that James had gone. Wordlessly thanking him, Lily waddled off after her moody black-haired boyfriend.

Jessi stood up, towering over Sirius; he, at six foot three, had to look up a good three inches to look her in the eyes. "What happened in there, Sir?" she asked huskily, the suppressed tears evident even behind her strange (in a good way) Italian-English accent. Sirius stared up into the chocolate brown eyes of his honey-skinned "secret" lover, his grey eyes locking with hers. So engrossed were they in each others' stares that they didn't realize that the rest of the room (minus Cordy and the rest of the children) were staring at them, awaiting Sirius' answer.

The spell was broken by Remus clearing his throat. The lovers quickly broke their gaze and began to stare at anything that wasn't each other. Remus didn't know who they were trying to kid; everyone but they themselves could see just how in love they were and a person would have to be pretty dense (*coughsiriusharryronandcassi-cough*) to not see that in their own ways Liana (who was a female carbon copy of Sirius), Mel, and Gracie all looked just like the two of them. "So?" prompted the sandy-haired werewolf, quirking an eyebrow at the black-haired pureblood. "What went on in there? Prongs sounded pretty upset."

Sirius shook his head, indicating the children. Molly took the hint and ushered them off into Cordy's playroom. Once the children were out of the room, Sirius took a seat on the plush scarlet couch and began to explain exactly what had gone on with the lawyer.

* * *

"Our own bloody _parents_ want me to send Cordelia off to live with Mum's damn squib cousins!" James raged at Lily, pacing back and forth across his childhood bedroom. "How could they _do_ something like this to us?"

The pregnant redheaded witch stroked her protruding stomach gently as she patiently listened to her hazel-eyed boyfriend rant on about his parent's decision of Cordelia's custody in the event of their deaths. "Surely they can't be all that bad, James," she said wearily. She was tired, she was pregnant, her feet were sore, her back hurt, she was craving a banana-maple syrup smoothie (of all things), and she was due in three weeks; Lily loved James with all her heart, but his incessant griping over this was starting to wear on her last nerve. "This may just be the hormones talking, but would it _really_ be all that bad if Cordy went off to live with these squibs? At least she'd be away from Voldemort."

James glared at his emerald-eyed girlfriend. "Dammit, Lily, she's my baby sister!" he yelled. "I can't just send her off to live with Laurie and Jeff! They _hate_ magic! They're frickin' jealous 'cause it's something they _should_ be able to do but _can't_!"

"James—"

"No, Lily!" James yelled. "How would _you_ feel if _your_ little sister was getting taken away from you, huh? What if it was _Willow_?"

Lily gave a sigh. "I'd be just as angry as you are," she admitted wearily.

"_Exactly!_ I'm of age! I'm frickin' twenty years old! And even if she can't stay with me, why not her bloody godparents? What's wrong with Molly and Arthur? They're two of the best bloody parents out there!"

"JAMES!" James finally stopped his tirade and looked at the pregnant beauty sitting in front of him. She patted the bed beside her and, blinking stupidly, James sat down. "You need to calm down, James," said Lily soothingly. "I understand, really I do. You may not think so, but I do. I care about Cordelia just as much as you do. I know how much you love her, but are you really ready to take on the responsibility of taking care of her on your own?"

James turned his hazel stare to Lily and stared deeply into her emerald eyes. "I would do absolutely _anything_ for Cordy," he said so seriously that it made Lily shiver. James laughed softly before continuing, "Besides, it's a little late to be questioning my responsibility, isn't it? I mean, I already have a two-year-old son and you _know_ I'll care for your twins as if they were my own." He smiled broadly. "Besides, the Marauders and the Unattainables are my family; we all consider each other's kids to be our own, you know that—what's ours is yours and what's yours is ours and all that."

Lily couldn't help but smile at that. "I love you James Potter."

James bent down and kissed Lily's bright red hair. "I love you too, Lily Evans. I love you too."

* * *

_**May 18, 1986**_**: **James Potter sat stony-faced on the edge of the lone bed in a small hotel room of an even smaller hotel at the edge of London. Tucked into the bed next to him, still sleeping soundly, was little Cordelia, her soft pink cheeks still wet from the tears she hadn't stopped shedding since their parents had died. No longer was Cordelia Jillian Potter a happy-go-lucky five-year-old girl; she had been forced to grow up long before her time. The past week had been especially hard on them, with the recent deaths of their parents and Cordelia's impending departure from James looming over their heads like a giant storm cloud of doom.

James sighed heavily and got up off of the bed, walking slowly to the tiny bathroom. Shutting the door softly, so as not to wake his sister, James slid down against the door to the floor and finally let free the tirade of tears that had been threatening to fall since he had received the letter.

Despite his best efforts and the efforts of his friends and "family," James had been unable to gain custody of Cordelia. Six days ago, a letter had come from Laurie and Jeff Chase, informing James that they would be coming to London on the eighteenth to pick Cordelia up and take her back to California with them.

The dreaded day had finally come. Through his tears, James glanced up at the clock on the bathroom counter. 6:45 A.M. Three hours and fifteen minutes until _they_ would come to take Cordelia away from him, possibly forever.

Taking off his glasses, James wiped the back of his hand across his face to get rid of his tears. He then stood up and splashed his face with cold water, trying to compose himself. Staring at his reflection in the mirror, all he could think about was that he was somehow to blame for Cordelia's fate. Maybe if he had been a better son, if he hadn't gotten so many detentions in school, maybe then his parents would have named _him_ as Cordelia's legal guardian instead of his mother's magic-hating squib cousins.

A soft knock on the hotel room door jerked James out of the hole of self-loathing and misery he was currently living in. Unlocking the bathroom door and exiting the small room quietly, James made his way to the main door, giving a quick glance to the bed to make sure Cordy was still sleeping.

Pulling open the hotel room door, James smiled slightly as he found himself staring into the amber eyes of his favorite cousin. "Hey Moony," he said quietly. "What are you doing here?"

"What, I can't come visit my favorite cousin, Prongs?" Moony said, keeping a straight face.

James placed a hand over his heart teasingly. "I had no idea you felt that way about me, Moony."

Moony aka Remus Lupin pushed past his cousin into the small hotel room. "Not you, you great prat," he said as James shut the door, "I was talking about Brownie."

James made a dramatic stabbing motion to his chest. "You wound me, Moony. And here I thought we had a special bond." James gave his best puppy-dog look (which wasn't really all that great—not once you had seen Cordy's or Lily's or even Sirius's), which just made Remus laugh at him.

Moony's laughter was infections. A few seconds was all it took for James to break down and join Remus's laugh-fest. Wiping tears of laughter from his under his glasses, James placed his hand on the young werewolf's shoulder. "Thanks, Moony; I really needed that."

Remus shrugged. "No problem, Prongs; it's what I do."

James chuckled lightly. "That you do, Moony."

As per usual, Cordy woke up at seven on the dot (how she was always able to do so never ceased to amaze James). Upon seeing her favorite cousin sitting in a small armchair reading a book, she promptly jumped out of the bed and ran squealing to the sandy-haired young man, jumping on his lap and giving him a fierce hug.

"Remy!" she squealed in delight. "You're here! I missed you _soooo_ much! Ooooo, you wanna see something wicked cool? Look what I can do!"

James chuckled happily as he watched the ecstatic five-year-old showing off her "wicked cool" levitating skills to the introverted werewolf. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Cordelia this happy—no wait, that wasn't entirely true: the last time he had seen her this happy had been right before he told her that their parents were dead.

This thought alone was enough to sober up the black haired twenty-year-old. That was literally a lifetime ago; it wasn't his reality anymore. No. His reality now was that his parents were dead; his baby sister—whom he had sworn he would always protect and keep from harm—was no longer her same bubbly, vivacious, happy self; and he was losing her to a couple of magic-hating squibs who lived halfway across the world in a small Californian town called Sunnydale.

"Hey Prongs, you alright there mate?"

James blinked his bright hazel eyes. "What's that Moony?"

Remus turned his concerned amber eyes on his bespectacled friend. "You zoned out there, mate."

"Oh, sorry," James replied distractedly. "Where's Cordy?"

"I sent her to get dressed," he replied, inclining his head toward the bathroom door. "I told her we'd take her out for ice cream." He paused for a second. "Is that alright with you?"

James nodded distractedly, staring aimlessly at the bathroom door. "Sure thing, Moony," he replied automatically.

Remus put his hand on James' shoulder comfortingly. "You don't want her to leave," he stated simply.

James turned to look his cousin in the eyes. "Can you blame me?" he replied softly.

Remus glanced toward the bathroom door. "No," he said softly, "I really can't."

The two old friends stood in silence for several minutes. Remus started when James finally spoke. "I can't help but think that this is somehow my fault," he admitted, his voice catching in his throat.

"How's that?" asked Remus gently.

James fidgeted and averted his eyes, looking anywhere but at his cousin. "Maybe if I'd been a better big brother—you know, been around more, done more stuff with her—maybe then she wouldn't have to go."

Remus grabbed James by the shoulders and shook him none too gently. "Don't you _dare_ think that, James Potter!" he growled sharply. "Look at me, Prongs!" James stared at his feet. "Goddammit! James Isaac Potter, look at me!" he practically yelled. James finally looked up at him. "Don't _ever_ think it was something you did, Prongs!" Remus said fiercely, his voice almost a growl. "You're the best bloody brother a little girl like Cordelia could _ever_ hope for! You should hear her go on about you—she absolutely _adores_ you, mate! I've never seen a little girl quite so taken with her big brother before—you're her bloody _hero_, Prongs!"

James blinked back his tears. "Then tell me, Moony," he whispered softly, "why can't I keep her?"

Moony's shoulders sagged a bit. "I don't know, Prongs," he admitted defeatedly. "I just don't know…"

"I'm ready for ice cream!"

James and Remus turned to look at the small little brunette who had just come out of the bathroom dressed in a bright yellow sundress printed with huge silver crescent moons and tiny little silver stars, her small feet clad in a pair of pretty silver sandals and a silver bow holding her chocolate curls out of her little brown face.

Cordy saw the two young men staring at her. "What?" she said irritably, placing her small hands on her hips and pursing her full pink lips. "Remy promised me ice cream, Jamie," she said matter-of-factly. "Now, let's _go_!"

James couldn't help himself. He burst into laughter. Remus tried his best to hold back, but slowly he too gave into his chuckles, which quickly turned into full-blown laughter. Before either of them knew it, they were both grabbing onto each other in an attempt to not fall to the floor from the intensity of their laughter.

Cordelia pursed her lips even more. "I _don't_ see what's so funny," she insisted, narrowing her eyes at the two laughing friends. "Ice cream is _no_ laughing matter."

James and Remus did their best to calm down. "Of course it's not," said Remus. "I did promise."

"Yes you did, Remy."

"Yeah," said James, holding the stitch that had formed in his side. "Everyone knows you don't get between Moony and his ice cream—especially if it's chocolate." Cordelia laughed as James expertly dodged Remus' hand coming down towards his head. Remus simply rolled his eyes at him and grabbed Cordy's hand, calling out for James to hurry up if he wanted ice cream too.

* * *

All too soon their time with Cordy was up. At ten on the dot, Laurie and Jeff Chase showed up in the lobby of the small hotel the Potters were staying at to collect Cordelia. Leaving Cordy with Remus, James and the Chases went into a small side room to talk.

Things got pretty heated between the two parties. Laurie and Jeff were dead set against James and his "freak" friends having any contact with Cordelia. That was the point where James burst out and told them that Cordy had been showing signs of magic since before Chris and Joan had died, and that she was going to be a pretty damn powerful witch, too.

The real kicker came when Laurie and Jeff handed James the papers they had acquired the week before. They first showed him the formal adoption papers for Cordelia Jillian Potter, then they had the audacity to tell him that they were legally changing her last name to Chase and the papers would come through in three days time.

By the time their "conversation" was over, James Potter was absolutely livid; unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing he could do. According to wizarding law, his parents' will had to be obeyed to the letter, and that meant handing over custody of Cordelia to these American squibs.

The farewell James, Remus, and Cordelia shared was a tearful one. Cordelia refused to let go of James and Remus, forcing Jeff to pry her bodily off of them. Cordelia wasn't about to go without a fight, though. She kicked and screamed as hard and loud as she possibly could as Jeff pulled her away from the two remaining men who meant the world to her. She cried out for "Jamie" and "Remy" as Jeff dragged her off to the airport with Laurie.

James was a broken man; Cordelia meant the world to him and now she was gone. It was at that instant that James Isaac Potter decided he didn't care what anyone thought; he leaned into his cousin's comforting shoulder and cried his heart out. He cried for his dead parents, he cried for the true end of his childhood, he cried for Jessi's mum, he cried for Sirius and his horrible family, he cried for Remus and his lycanthropy, he cried for his dead aunt and uncle (Remus's parents), he cried for all the things over the years he had suppressed inside of him. Most of all, though, he cried for Cordelia, the little sister he was afraid deep down that he might never see again.


	5. Prologue Pt5: Taken

**Prologue: How It All Began**

**Part 5: Taken**

_**January 21, 1987**_**:** Elizabeth "Buffy" Anne Longbottom was contently playing in the front yard of the Longbottom mansion. Today was her sixth birthday and she was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her big brother Frank and his new wife Alice—her _sister_. Buffy loved that; she had always wanted a sister and Alice was really nice. Plus Buffy thought she was really pretty.

Buffy was so engrossed in her dolls that she almost didn't notice her brother's arrival. "Hey Sunshine," a masculine voice said softly in her ear.

Buffy squealed with delight; there was only one person who called her that—her big brother Frank. "Frankie!" she squealed, jumping up off the ground, only to find herself being swung through the air by her tall brown-haired brother.

"How's the birthday girl?" he asked, setting his blonde-haired sister down and meeting her hazel-green eyes with his own chestnut brown orbs. Buffy smiled; she loved how Frank always treated her like she was a big girl, not a baby.

"Super-duper," Buffy replied happily, squeezing her brother tight. "Where's Aly?" she asked, looking around the yard for her pretty blond sister-in-law.

Frank chuckled playfully. "Oh, I see how it is. You love Alice more than me. I'm hurt, Sunshine. Truly I am."

Buffy swatted the nineteen-year-old's arm playfully. "You know I love you too, Frankie," she said, smiling up at her big brother.

Frank gave his little sister a swift hug. "I know, Sunshine; I was just playing with you."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I _know_, Frankie. I _am_ six, you know."

Frank chuckled. "Yes, I forgot, you're all grown up now, aren't you." Buffy nodded her head seriously. Frankie chuckled; he really loved his little sister. Straightening himself up, Frank sighed and ran his hand through his chestnut brown hair. "Well, Sunshine, I've got to go say 'hi' to Mum now. Are you coming in?"

Buffy shook her head. "I want to wait for Alice," she said stubbornly.

Frank ruffled Buffy's long, wavy blonde hair playfully and chuckled. "Well, it'll be a bit of a wait, Sunshine. Aly got held up a bit at Auror training."

Buffy's hazel-green eyes went wide with worry. "She will _be_ here, won't she?"

"Of course, Sunshine; she promised. You know Alice never breaks her promises—especially to you."

Buffy smiled in relief. "Oh, good."

Frank chuckled. "So are you coming in?" he asked.

Buffy shook her head adamantly. "I still wanna wait."

Frank shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself, Sunshine. See you inside, then." Giving her a kiss on the top of her sunshine blonde head, Frank turned and headed into the house to greet Gardener and Augusta Longbottom, his and Buffy's parents.

* * *

Twenty minutes had passed since Frank's arrival and Alice still hadn't shown up yet. Buffy had moved on from playing with her dolls to playing with her favorite hot pink, daisy-covered rubber ball. She was contentedly kicking said ball around the yard, not-so patiently waiting for Aly's arrival. As she was playing, she had somehow managed to unintentionally move closer and closer to the dirt path that marked the front end of the Longbottom estate.

One solid kick was all it took to send the ball flying across the dirt path into the flower-filled meadow beyond. Buffy hesitated for a moment; she knew she wasn't allowed to cross the dirt path. Her mum and dad had told her time and time again to stay on their side of the dirt path and to never venture into the meadow alone. Buffy didn't understand _why_ she wasn't allowed in the pretty meadow; it didn't look scary to her. She was, after all, only six years old; her parents had never explained to her that the safety wards and muggle-repelling charms on the house only extended to the path and not into the meadow beyond.

Normally Buffy listened to her parents and obeyed them wholeheartedly, but for some reason today felt different to her. Maybe it was because she was now a grown-up six-year-old, or maybe it was something else entirely. Whatever it was, Buffy felt compelled to disobey her parents and chase her favorite ball into the meadow. As Buffy stepped across the path she felt a strange tingling sensation; this was the wards and charms set on Longbottom Manor, though she didn't know it. As Buffy stepped off of the path and into the meadow, she giggled happily. She had made it into the big bad meadow and nothing bad had happened to her. Maybe her parents were just being silly. After all, Frank and Alice were allowed to go into the meadow and so were Mummy and Daddy. Why not her?

Buffy picked up her ball and turned to go back across the path into her front yard (she may have been curious and a bit rebellious today, but she wasn't daft enough to want to incur her mum's wrath). She was a single step away from the dirt path when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She made to scream (_what_ was a stranger doing touching _her_, Buffy Anne Longbottom? How _dare_ he!), but was silenced by a cloth covered hand shooting out to cover her mouth and nose. Buffy struggled as fiercely as she could, but she was no match for the strength of what she figured was a full-grown man. Buffy kicked and wriggled, desperately trying to break the man's hold on her, but it was no use. The last thing Buffy thought of before her world went black was Frank and how he wasn't there to save her.

* * *

What was meant to be a happy occasion quickly turned sour. Alice Longbottom arrived at her in-laws' home expecting to see eager little Buffy playing outside, waiting for her to arrive just like she always was. When she apparated to an empty front lawn, she started to get a bit worried. Thinking that maybe Buffy had gone inside after all, she too headed into the house.

That was when panic set in. Alice innocently asked if Buffy had come inside and was instantly greeted by three insistent "nos." Alice's lightly freckled, ivory faced paled horribly and she informed her husband and his parents that Buffy wasn't outside. In a panic, the four adults spread out to search the grounds for Buffy.

It was Frank who found the only clue. He was searching the front yard when he spied a hot pink blob near the dirt path. Running over, Frank saw that it was Buffy's favorite ball—and it was on the wrong side of the path.

Gathering his family back in the house, Frank told him what he had found and his mother instantly burst into tears. Patting his wife's back comfortingly, Gardener Longbottom told his son to call in the aurors. Seeing that her husband was in too much shock to do so himself, Alice took it upon herself to call in backup.

The aurors arrived quickly and searched the property and the meadow beyond for hours. By nightfall there was still no clue as to Buffy's whereabouts. It was with a heavy heart that Head Auror Alastor Moody had to inform the Longbottoms that their six-year-old daughter was missing and might not ever be found.

* * *

_**January 22, 1987**_**:** Buffy yawned and stretched her small arms as she sat up in her bed. Throwing off her pale pink covers, she slowly climbed out of bed and made her way down the stairs. She entered the kitchen to the smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes cooking. Stepping through the archway, Buffy saw her mother sitting at the island sipping her coffee as she dutifully watched the cooking food. Buffy shuffled into the kitchen, smiling at her mother. "Morning Mommy," she said.

Her mother looked up, smiling at the sight of her daughter. "Morning sweetie. Are you hungry?" Buffy nodded her head. Her mom smiled, set down her tea, and got up to fill a plate up with food for her daughter.

Buffy's mom set the plate of food down on the island as the little girl clambered up onto the tall island seat. Finally making it to the top, Buffy smiled happily and dug in. After she had eaten half her eggs, a third of her pancakes, and all of her bacon (not to mention half a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice), Buffy looked up expectantly at her mom. "Where's Daddy?" she asked curiously.

"He had to leave for work early this morning." Buffy nodded her head in understanding. "Did you sleep well last night, honey?" her mother asked her.

Buffy played idly with her remaining eggs as she answered her mom. "I had a weird dream last night, Mommy."

"Oh? What was it about?"

Buffy scrunched her little nose thoughtfully. "I-I don't remember exactly…I was happy, I remember that. And there was someone who made me smile, but then…" she trailed off.

"Then what, honey?"

"Then the bad man came and took me away," she whispered, tears in her eyes.

"Oh, sweetie," said her mother, coming around the island and wrapping her small blonde daughter in a great big hug. "You're safe here, sweetheart; no one will come and take you away from your daddy and me."

"But—"

"No. Listen to me Buffy Anne Summers; I promise you, _no one_ will _ever_ take you away from me and your daddy, _ever_. Understand?"

Buffy nodded and snuggled deeply into Joyce Summers's embrace. "I know Mommy. I love you."

"I love you too, Buffy," Joyce replied, hugging her daughter tight.

Buffy felt safe in Joyce's arms, the thought of Hank Summers doing the same, making her feel good and loved. There was only one thing nagging at the back of Buffy's brain: who was the man who had made her feel safer and more loved than she had ever felt in all of her six years of life and why couldn't she get him out of her mind?


	6. Prologue Pt6: Goodbye to You

**Prologue: How It All Began**

**Part 6: Goodbye to You**

_**December 12, 1987**_**:** Seven-year-old Willow Eleanor Evans sat on the window seat in her bedroom, idly watching the snow fall to the ground. Her sister-in-law Ana Evans and her one-year-old twin nieces Jordan and Taylor had arrived the night before for the Christmas holiday. Willow's thirty-year-old brother Alex (Ana's husband) was on call at the hospital until the 22nd, so he would be in and out until then; Alex was a doctor, an obstetrician to be exact. Willow's twenty-four-year-old four-month pregnant sister Petunia and her horrible husband Vernon Dursley were scheduled to arrive on the 20th—she wasn't particularly looking forward to that visit, especially because Tuney had been increasingly cold to her since she had started to take after Lily. Lily was Willow's twenty-one-year-old sister—her favorite sister, if truth be told. Lily and her husband James Potter would be arriving tomorrow, along with James's three-year-old son Cody and Lily's one-year-old twins Ember and Ender Lupin. Willow was especially excited to see Lily this year; Lily had told them all that she had some big news to share. Besides this, Willow had recently discovered that she was able to float small things like a pencil when she really concentrated.

Lily Potter was the only one who could really understand Willow because Lily was a real live witch and she had told Willow more than once that she was a witch too. Willow had been so happy when Lily and James (who at the time had just been Lily's boyfriend) had taken her aside on her sixth birthday and told her so. Apparently they had been wanting to tell her since she had first started showing magic at the young age of two and a half, but Sarah and Joshua Evans (Alex, Tuney, Lily, and Willow's parents) had insisted that they wait until she was at least six before they told her. Unbeknownst to them all, though, Willow had discovered that she was magical all on her own when she was just four years old and she had been practicing ever since, though she had done her very best to act surprised when she was officially told two years later.

Lily and James had told Willow absolutely everything about Hogwarts, the school for witches and wizards that they had both attended. Lily was adamant that come her eleventh birthday, Willow would be getting her very own letter to Hogwarts and she too would get to learn magic. Willow had been so excited at that news. Lily was really the only one who truly understood Willow. Her parents were loving and kind, but they were "muggles," according to Lily—that is, non-magical folk—as were Alex, Tuney, Vernon, and Ana.

Willow shifted restlessly on her window seat and sighed heavily. Sixteen more hours till Lily and James arrived. Sixteen more hours until her best friend returned home for Christmas. Sixteen more hours till—

A sharp knock at her door startled Willow out of her reverie. Climbing down off of her seat, the petite redhead made her way over to the door. Opening it slowly, she found herself staring into her big brother's great-big sapphire blue eyes. "Alex!" she shrieked happily, jumping up and down while hugging him around the knees.

Alex chuckled as he grabbed his hyperactive emerald-eyed sister by the shoulders to calm her down. "Calm down, Wills," he said, laughing at her antics.

Willow stopped jumping, instead bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Sorry Lex. I'm just so happy to see you!"

"I can see that," chuckled Alex. He promptly picked up the small green-eyed girl and settled her on his shoulders. Willow squealed happily as Alex carried her out of her room and down the stairs. Arriving in the empty living room, Alex plopped Willow down on the couch before sitting himself down beside her. "So," he asked, making himself comfortable on the squishy green couch, "what do you want for Christmas this year, Pixie?"

Willow stared straight into Alex's eyes and stated seriously, "I want to go to Hogwarts and learn magic just like Lily and James."

Alex smiled broadly at his baby sister and chuckled. "Well, I can't help you on that one, Pix, sorry." Willow looked slightly crestfallen. "Don't worry sis," he said, hugging the small redheaded girl comfortingly. "You'll be going there before you know it."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

Willow was happily watching her identical strawberry-blonde nieces as Ana worked in the kitchen to get dinner ready. Willow was amusing the twin terrors by shooting up multicolored sparks—something she had recently discovered how to do. Tay and Jor sat entranced, their identical sapphire blue eyes staring at their Auntie Willow in awe.

"Willow, please bring the twins in for dinner!" Ana called from the dining room. Willow reluctantly stopped her light show and picked up a twin in each arm before heading into the kitchen and greeting her pale-haired sister-in-law. After setting the twins into their high chairs, Willow proceeded to help the blue-eyed woman put the food on the table.

"Willow, dear, will you please go get your brother and tell him that dinner's ready?"

"Sure thing Ana," Willow chirped happily, skipping off just as Ana began telling off one of the twins for tugging on one of her blonde braids.

Willow continued skipping down the hall, searching for her brown-haired brother in every room. Finally she found him sitting in their father's office talking to someone on the phone. "Are you quite sure?" she heard him say, his voice sounding strained. "There's no mistake?" Willow couldn't hear what the person on the other end had said, but she could tell that it was causing her brother great distress. "I see," he stated finally. "Well, thank you for telling me. Yes, yes, I'm sure you are. Very well. Yes, tomorrow at eight. Right. Yes, you too." Hanging up the phone tiredly, Alex leaned back in the chair and wiped a couple tears from his face.

"Alex?" said Willow timidly. "Are you alright?"

Alex started. "Willow. I-I didn't see you there. Did you need something?"

"Oh, right. Ana wanted me to tell you dinner's ready."

Alex made no move to get up. "Oh, thank you Willow. Tell Ana I'll be right there."

Taking this as a dismissal, Willow turned to leave. As she reached the doorframe she suddenly turned back around to see Alex running his calloused fingers through his thick chestnut locks. "Are you alright, Alex?" she asked again.

Alex started and stared into the concerned emerald orbs of his baby sister. Heaving a sigh, he replied, "I just got some bad news, Pixie, that's all. I need a moment to think."

Willow gave a small nod. "Mummy always says its better to talk about things, else you might 'splode and go all kablooy."

Had Willow been any other seven-year-old she might have missed the brief flash of pain that crossed her brother's face, but she wasn't. However, she didn't say anything, choosing instead to store the information away for future reference. "That's good advice, Pix," said Alex softly. "You be sure to remember that." Willow nodded her head in compliance. "Now, run along and get to the table. I'll be right there; I promise." Giving one last glance back at her brother, Willow left their dad's office and walked slowly back to the kitchen, contemplating what the strange look that had crossed her brother's face mere seconds ago could have meant.

* * *

_**December 13, 1987**_**: **When Willow came downstairs in the morning she was surprised to see that her big sisters, Lily and Tuney, were sitting silently together at the kitchen table. "Lily?" said Willow sleepily, not sure if she was still dreaming or not.

The young redheaded woman (most people said Willow looked just like her) turned and gave her sister a small smile as she sipped on her coffee. "Morning sleepyhead," she said blearily.

"Tuney?" Willow added, turning to look quizzically at her thin, brunette sister.

Petunia smiled stiffly at her baby sister, clutching her tea cup tightly. "Good morning, Willow," she said shortly. "I hope you slept well."

Willow smiled shyly up at her oldest sister. While it was true that Tuney wasn't nearly as pretty as Lily— with her plain, straight, shoulder-length brown hair, sharp, nut-brown eyes, and thin, angular, some said horse-like, features many considered her to be the plain-Jane of the Evans family—Willow still looked up to her; Tuney never lied to her, even when Alex and Lily might do so to spare her feelings. Willow knew that deep-down her sister still loved her, but ever since Willow had started showing signs that she was just as magical as Lily, Tuney had become cold and distant—thought not outright hostile, as she was to Lily—to her. "I slept very well, thank you for asking, Petunia," Willow replied politely, just as Tuney had taught her.

Petunia gave her youngest sister a small smile before responding, "Excellent," and returning her attention to her tea and absently rubbing her slightly swollen stomach tenderly; at four months pregnant, Tuney was just now starting to show, though if she hadn't been so thin no one would have noticed just yet.

Still not completely awake, Willow sat herself down at the table next to Lily, poured herself a bowl of her favorite sugar-loaded cereal, and helped herself to a big glass of milk. The three sisters sat in silence, the elder two sipping their respective beverages and the younger munching happily on her cereal as they slowly joined the world of the living.

Willow was suddenly interrupted from her meal by a pair of strong hands lifting her bodily off her chair and spinning her around. "Jamie!" she shrieked happily, immediately recognizing the bespectacled black-haired man currently holding her. "Put me down!"

"Whatever you say, Mini-Lils," he said, playfully dumping her gently on her rear; ever since James Potter had first been introduced to the Evans, he had taken to calling Willow "Mini-Lils," saying that she looked exactly like her big sister—he wasn't the only person who said that either. Laughing, Willow picked herself up off the floor and hugged her favorite brother-in-law (she truly despised Vernon Dursley, the pompous fat prat) before settling herself back in her seat to finish her breakfast.

James sat down in the empty seat next to her with a certain grace and arrogance that only he could pull off. As he sat, Petunia pursed her thin lips until they were almost non-existent; it wasn't exactly a secret that Petunia Dursley and the Potters (Lily and James) didn't get along at all. Ignoring the brown-haired busy-body, James smiled at the pixie-like girl sitting next to him. "So how's my favorite sister-in-law this morning?" he asked playfully, tugging on a strand of Willow's bright red hair.

Willow giggled. "Just peachy, Jamie." Willow couldn't help but notice the flicker of pain that crossed James's face every time she called him that, but she didn't really understand why; Lily had told her confidentially that someone close to him had always called him that and that she was gone now, but Willow couldn't get anything else out of her normally very open big sister.

James smiled at her again, ruffling her hair. "That's super, Mini-Lils," he said happily, reaching across the small girl to snatch Lily's coffee mug from her.

"James Isaac Potter, don't even _think_ about it!" Lily growled at her husband, swatting his hand away from her precious coffee; she was _not_ a morning person and God, Merlin, and Zeus help the person who tried to take her coffee away from her.

James retracted his hand quickly. "Geez, Lils," he said teasingly, "moody much?"

"Shut up, James."

James mock bowed in his seat. "As milady commands," he teased. Willow giggled.

Narrowing her emerald eyes at her husband, Lily snapped, "You are a pompous prat, James Potter! I don't know why I ever agreed to go out with you, let alone _marry_ you!"

James made a stabbing motion to his heart. "You wound me, Evans," he said playfully.

"Go to Hell Potter, you bloody arrogant prat!" she growled at him.

Willow suddenly burst into laughter. Lily's eyes snapped up to look at her baby sister. "What's so funny?" she asked irritably.

"Y-you said a bad word, Lils!" Willow managed to get out between her bursts of laughter.

Lily suddenly looked mortified. "Oh sweet Merlin!" she breathed. "Will, I'm _so_ sorry! I didn't mean—don't you _ever_ repeat those filthy words, you hear me?"

James did his best to hide his smile at his wife's abrupt change of mood mid-apology—he honestly couldn't wait until she told her family the good news. "I think Willow gets it, dear," said James once he had schooled his features to not give himself away. "Don't you, Mini-Lils?"

Willow giggled. "Of course I do, you prat," the seven-year-old redhead said playfully. "I would never say such things, unlike dear, sweet Lily here…"

"Yeah, yeah," Lily grumbled, "I get it; I'm a horrible person, swearing in front of a seven-year-old. I said I was sorry, okay?"

James reached behind Willow to pat his wife's arm soothingly. "We know, Red," he said softly, "you're just not a morning person; I've know that since first year. I shouldn't have teased you like that."

"Darn tootin'," said Willow happily, eliciting a small half-smile from a still-not-quite-awake Lily, a loud burst of laughter from a far-too-happy James, and even a tiny quirk of what might have been a smile from a near-forgotten Petunia.

The foursome spent the next ten minutes in relative silence (relative meaning that James was doing everything in his power to entertain the little girl he considered his own little sister and make her laugh—which he did, many times) for about ten minutes before Lily—having finally finished her precious caffeinated beverage—finally broke the silence.

"So, you got here rather early, James," she said, setting down her now empty mug and staring at her hazel-eyed husband. "Was there something you wanted?"

It always amazed Willow how her bestest brother-in-law (the title of bestest brother was already taken by Alex) could go from a funny, playful guy one second to a serious, no-nonsense kind of guy the next. James instantly stopped his games with Willow, putting on his "Big-Boy" face, as Will had dubbed it. "Lily, have you heard from Luna lately?" he asked seriously.

Lily frowned thoughtfully. "You know, James, it's strange. I don't think I've spoken to her since we helped get her, Rion, and baby Cassi settled in their new house." She looked up quizzically at her husband. "That was two and a half weeks ago, wasn't it? Is something wrong?" The concern in Lily's voice seemed to grow at the thought that her best friend or her children might be in trouble.

Temporarily avoiding the inevitable, James said, "Cody's spending Christmas with her this year, so are Calli and Cleo—that is, for a few days. They're going to see their dad too."

Lily waved it off. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Calli and Cleo get to join Ember and Ender for a fun, full moon-free holiday with Remus and Derek and Diana this year."

James may have been caught off guard for a moment, but that didn't deter him. "So, we were talking about dear sweet Luna, Lils," he said, bringing them back to the original topic.

Petunia stood up at this. "Ugh! You _freaks_ can have the dining room. I'm going to go find my husband." Petunia turned suddenly to Lily, pointing her finger accusingly at her. "If I hear of you corrupting our precious baby sister—" she hissed.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, Petunia," said Lily lazily. "Now why don't you just run along to _Vernon_, ya?" Tuney glared at her little sister for a moment before giving a great dramatic huff and sweeping out of the room, her pastel pink bathrobe billowing out behind her as she left.

Rolling her eyes at her sister's dramatics, Lily looked back at her husband. "So we were discussing Luna, ya?"

"Right," said James, nodding her head. "You know she hasn't been right since Regulus died and she's been refusing to speak to Padfoot since their one-night-stand."

Lily nodded her head thoughtfully. "She really loved that boy, didn't she?"

James huffed moodily. "Seems like it, though I have no idea what she ever saw in that slimy Slytherin git—c'mon, Lils, even Sirius called him that!"

Willow looked from James to Lily curiously. "Isn't Slytherin one of the houses you were telling me about at Hogwarts?"

Lily and James started, realizing for the first time that Willow was still in the room with them. Glancing at one another, they came to an agreement. "Wills," said Lily gently, "why don't you go see if Ana needs some help with the twins; they should be up soon."

Willow huffed moodily. "I never get to hear anything good," she grumbled to herself as she pushed her chair back from the table and got up, flouncing from the room.

"Think she's mad at us?" asked James worriedly; Willow was his favorite member of Lily's family, aside from herself, of course.

Lily just rolled her eyes at her husband. "She'll be fine, James," she said. "Now, where were we?"

* * *

Willow was curled up on her favorite forest green armchair in the living room, reading Lily's old copy of The Standard Book of Spells (Grade One)—after much pleading, and repeated use of her infamous resolve-face, Willow had convinced Lily to give her all of her old school books, saying that if she was going to be accepted to Hogwarts anyway, she might as well get a head start (even though it was still four years till she could go). Willow found the book to be quite a fascinating read and couldn't put it down, soaking up every bit of information she could without actually _performing_ the spells.

So engrossed was she in her book that she didn't notice Alex, followed by Lily and Petunia, come into the room and sit down—Petunia in their mother's old oak rocking chair and Alex and Lily on the earth brown sofa. She didn't notice that she was no longer the sole occupant of the green-and-brown living room until a large, rather calloused hand gently took her book away. "Hey!" she protested, looking up to see her brother's large blue eyes staring at her.

Willow could instantly tell that something was wrong. She looked past Alex's misery-ridden eyes to see Lily sniffling inconsolably on the couch and Tuney staring blankly at the unlit fireplace. "Wh-what's wrong?" Willow asked timidly, unable to look away from her older siblings; she had never seen any of them this shaken up before—even Petunia was obviously stricken by something; she never stared, insisting that it was completely rude and unladylike, no matter who or what was being stared at. Willow's simple question caused Lily to burst into tears and Petunia to let out a strangled sob of her own. Staring into the eldest Evans sibling's eyes, Willow saw the tears glistening in the sapphire depths. "A-Alex, p-please. Y-you're scaring me," she whispered frantically.

"I'm so sorry, Willow," he said hoarsely. "I-I wish I didn't have to tell you this…"

"Tell me what?" Willow was growing more frantic with each attempt to avoid the issue.

"Will, baby, Mum and Dad—" Alex began, kneeling down in front of the small girl and taking her pale hands in his own rough, tanned ones.

"Wh-what a-about t-them?" she asked frantically. "Are they not going to make it back for Christmas? Did they decide to stay in California with Auntie Sheila and Uncle Ira?"  
Alex shook his head sadly. "Not quite, baby," he said brokenly. "Th-there's been an accident…"

Willow shot up out of her seat, causing Alex to sway from the suddenness of her movement. "_NO!_" she shouted frantically. "Don't say that! Don't you _dare_ say that, Alexander Matthew Evans!" Willow may have only been seven, but there was a reason why her classmates had been calling her a know-it-all and a genius since she was four years old.

Alex grabbed Willow firmly by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Willow, look at me baby." She fought him, knowing what was to come, but praying to all that was sacred that she was somehow wrong.

"Willow," came a soft sob from the opposite chair. She looked up to see Petunia's grief-stricken brown eyes staring at her. "Just listen, please. You need to hear this." Willow nodded reluctantly; it wasn't often that Petunia asked her for anything, so she decided to indulge her this once.

"Thank you," said Alex softly. Tuney nodded her head at him and he turned back to the pixie-like girl stranding in front of him—standing in front of the kneeling man, Willow barely reached his shoulders. Alex took a deep breath and stared deep into Willow's beautiful emerald eyes. "Will, you need to hear me out, understand?" Willow nodded reluctantly. "Wills, Mum and Dad got an early flight back the day before yesterday. They wanted to surprise you and come home early for Christmas—you know the Rosenbergs are Jewish, so they didn't see any reason to stay any longer. Well, I-I got a call yesterday…Mum and Dad were headed back from London. They were about ten miles out of the city when- when—" Alex took a deep breath to compose himself and continued, "Th-they we-we're in an accident, Wills. I-it was a drunk driver. M-mum and D-dad…th-they di—they didn't make it, Willow."

"No," Willow whimpered, crumpling into a heap on the floor, sobbing her great big heart out. Alex reached out comfortingly and hugged her tight. Tuney, seeing her baby sister in pain, looked over at Lily and, sharing a kind of connection they thought they had long since lost, both sisters put aside their differences and ran forward to join their big brother in comforting their baby sister.

An hour later when James and Ana came back with the twins, they found the four Evans siblings all sitting together on the floor—Alex with Lily asleep on his lap, holding on to Willow's hand, Willow asleep in Tuney's lap, Tuney asleep on Alex's shoulder, her free hand holding tightly to Lily's, and Alex sitting with his arms around them all. Hearing a small noise, Alex looked up to see his wife and black-haired brother-in-law standing in the doorway. Giving an almost imperceptible shake of his head, James and Ana took the hint and left the grieving siblings alone to comfort each other; both knew that the moment would not last much longer, but for now all that mattered was that they were a family, a family in pain, and right now they needed each other.

* * *

_**January 5, 1988**_**:** Willow felt very small and alone as she stood by her parents' newly filled graves. She knew that this wasn't strictly true, but she still felt very much alone; Alex had Ana, Petunia had Vernon (no matter how much of a great, fat prat he might be), Lily had James, and even Ember-and-Ender and Taylor-and-Jordan had each other. Yes, despite her loving and caring family Willow Eleanor Evans felt very much alone.

Willow sniffled, her normally vibrant green eyes dull and red-rimmed from crying so much. She wished very much at that moment that she could somehow bring her parents back to life. She was so lost in her grief that she didn't even notice the two twin strawberry-blonde blurs sneaking up to her.

Willow was nearly knocked down by the sudden impact of the twin one-and-a-half-year-olds latching onto her legs. "Why bees you so sad, Auntie Wiwwow?" asked the identical girls.

Willow sniffled again. "M'sad 'cause I miss my mummy and daddy," she said quietly.

The twins looked up at her solemnly (for possibly the only time in their lives) with their big blue eyes. "We sowwy, Auntie Wiwwow," they said together.

"'Skay to bees sad, Auntie Wiwwow," said Tay softly, hugging her favorite auntie tightly.

"We bees missing Gampa Jowsh an' Gamma Sawah too, Auntie Wiwwow," added Jor, hugging Willow just as tightly as her twin.

Willow, brave seven-year-old that she was, tilted her head up to hide her tears from her young nieces. "I love you two, you know that, right?" she said softly, her voice wobbling ever so slightly.

Twin angelic faces stared up at her lovingly. "We wove you too, Auntie Wiwwow," they said together. Willow smiled despite her sadness; Taylor and Jordan had the uncanny ability to cheer up even the gloomiest person.

Willow wasn't sure exactly how long the three of them stood there, the mere presence of the normally troublesome twins comforting her. It came as a shock to her when she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up to find…herself staring back at her. _No, that's not right…_ she thought. Willow blinked rapidly, trying to clear her mind. Looking up once more, she nearly laughed at herself for her simple mistake; it was Lily standing in front of her, of course.

"Are you ready to go, Wills?" Lily asked gently, her eyes puffy from crying. Willow nodded, just now realizing that the twins were no longer attached to her legs.

"Where—"

"Remus wasn't feeling too well, so he left and took Ember and Ender with him, and Tay and Jor were getting tired, so Ana took them home. Alex had to go meet with the lawyers again, so James and I offered to take you home with us. Petunia and Vernon left as well."

Willow nodded slowly, taking her sister's hand. She and Lily were silent as they made there way over to the small hill where James was waiting for them. As they reached the top of the hill, Willow saw that James was holding a gold coin. "What's that for?" she asked, her natural curiosity taking over. "Isn't that wizard money?"

James smiled at the little redheaded girl. "Sorta, Mini-Lils. _This_ is our ticket home."

Willow raised her delicate eyebrow questioningly. "It's called a Portkey, Wills," explained Lily. "You enchant an object—any object, really—and it can transport you from one place to another."

Willow nodded her head, smiling slightly. "So I get to try it?"

James grinned widely, glad to have momentarily distracted Willow from her grief, and said, "Yup. Now, I just need you and Lils to touch the coin—just a finger'll do—and we'll get going in five, four, three, two, _one_."

Willow felt a tug behind her navel and she felt herself being jerked away from the hill. Seconds later they arrived in Godric's Hollow at the Potter's home, Willow landing unceremoniously on the floor in a heap, whereas Lily and James managed to stay standing.

"So what'd ya think, kiddo?" asked James, holding out his hand and helping her up.

Willow smiled broadly. "That was wicked cool, James! Can we do it again?"

James chuckled and Lily rolled her eyes. "Maybe later, Mini-Lils," he replied with a smile.

Willow shrugged her small shoulders. "Okay," she replied dully, her grief slowly returning. Her face suddenly brightened as she thought of something completely different. "Ooo! Lily, can I help you set up the baby's room! _Please?_"

Lily laughed. "The baby's not coming for another six months, Will."

Willow pouted. "I _know_, Lils, but I want to help decorate my nephew's room anyway."

Lily and James looked at each other quizzically. "What makes you so sure it's a boy, Will?" asked Lily kindly.

Willow turned her piercing emerald eyes at Lily, the intensity of her gaze unnerving Lily a bit. "I just _know_, Lily." With a squeal of delight, Willow's attitude inexplicably changed again and she grabbed Lily's hand, dragging her up the stairs. "C'mon, Lily!" she giggled happily. "I wanna see the nursery you've got picked out for my nephew!"

Lily cast a pleading look at James as she was dragged up the stairs by the hyperactive seven-year-old, but all she received in return was a cheeky smile. "You are _so_ sleeping on the couch tonight, James Isaac Potter!" she yelled at her husband as she was tugged out of sight.

James's smile faded. He had only one thing to say to that. "Bugger."

* * *

_**January 6, 1988**_**:** A bleary-eyed Lily slowly made her way into the kitchen at some ungodly hour of the morning (it was actually about ten o'clock, but to Lily anything before noon was ungodly early). She was _so_ not a morning person. And the incessantly-cheerful smile on her husband's face was _not_ helping matters either.

"Morning sunshine," James chirped happily as Lily walked over to the counter to pour herself her much needed morning mug of coffee. "How did you sleep last night?" Lily grunted, sitting moodily in her chair at the table. "Me, you ask? Why, I didn't know you cared, dearest Lily," James babbled on, ignoring his wife's usual foul morning mood. "I slept just _wonderfully_, thank you. That couch of ours is _quite_ comfortable, you know. Now, I don't know about you, but I find it _especially_ wonderful to be woken by a hyperactive seven-year-old girl jumping on top of me. _Quite_ effective, if I do say so myself. Now, if I may be so bold—"

"If you don't shut up _right now_, James Potter, I will _personally_ make sure that you can _never_ reproduce again," Lily growled angrily, her wand drawn and pointed at her husband.

James gulped. "Shutting up now." Lily grunted again and put her wand away, turning her attention back to her coffee.

The couple sat in silence until Lily was finished with her caffeinated beverage. She stood up and cleared her mug before turning around and asking her husband the question that had been bothering her for the past few minutes. "Where's Willow?" she asked.

"Oh, she woke me up this morning, ate some breakfast, then asked if she could work on the baby's room. Apparently she's planning a surprise for him." James's forehead creased in thought. "I _would_ like to know why she's so bloody sure it's a boy, though."

Lily waved him off. "That's just Willow. She told Ana that she was having, and I quote, 'trouble-making twins' when she was pregnant with Taylor and Jordan."

"You think she's a seer, then?" asked James curiously.

Lily laughed. "Merlin, no. She doesn't get visions, just feelings, she says. Trust me, I've asked."

"Oh, alright then. So is Alex coming by this afternoon?"

Lily nodded, sitting back down at the table with her husband. "He should be here at two. He's been meeting with Mum and Dad's lawyers all week; apparently there have been some issues concerning who gets custody of Willow."

James looked up at Lily thoughtfully. "You know, Lils, we could take her in. She's such a sweet little girl; _we_ could raise her."

Lily grinned widely. "Glad you think so, husband-of-mine, because I already told Alex to consider us. Apparently he and Ana had the same thought, and Petunia even wanted too, but Vernon flat out told her no."

"So what's the problem then?" asked James curiously. "We're all her family."

Lily sighed. "I know, James, but apparently Mum and Dad's will was very specific on this issue and Alex is having trouble getting around it."

"What does it say?"

Lily shrugged. "Alex didn't say. He just said that he didn't like what it said and that he would fight it tooth and nail to get it changed."

"So is that why he's coming over today?"

Lily nodded. "Yes. Today was their last meeting. He's coming over to tell us and Willow who gets custody of her." Lily sighed. "I just want Willow to be happy and safe, that's all that really matters to me."

James reached over and took his wife's small hand in his own, squeezing it gently. "Me too, Lils. Me too."

* * *

Two o'clock crept up on the Potter household much sooner than expected. Lily was curled up on her favorite forest green armchair reading Hogwarts: A History yet again, James was catching up on some paperwork (he was an auror, like his father before him), and Willow had yet to emerge from the unfinished nursery.

Precisely as the clock struck two, a knock rang through the small, cozy house. James and Lily both quickly looked up from what they were doing to stare in the general direction of the front door. "That'll be Alex," said Lily, methodically marking her place before setting down her book and getting up to answer the door.

Making her way to the front door, Lily pulled it open to reveal her blue-eyed big brother, looking as if he hadn't had a proper night's sleep in weeks. "C'mon in, Alex," she said quietly.

Alex stepped over the threshold and pulled Lily into a tight hug. "How are you holding up, Lily?" he asked gently.

Lily shrugged as Alex let her go. "As well as can be expected, I suppose. You?"

"I'm fine, Lily."

Lily snorted. "You look like shit, Alex," she said bluntly. "I highly doubt you're fine."

Alex sighed. "Don't worry about me, Lily. We need to talk about Willow."

Lily rolled her eyes at her big brother's stubbornness. "Alright," she said, letting it go for the time being. "Let's go into the living room."

Lily led Alex into the comfy living room and the siblings sat down together on the cream-colored couch. "Where's Willow?" asked Alex, looking around the room and seeing only James.

Lily waved him off. "She's up in the nursery. Apparently she's working on a surprise for her _nephew_."

Alex smiled slightly. "You too, eh?"

Lily grinned. "Yup. She's thoroughly convinced I'm having a boy—though she hasn't said anything about him being a troublemaker yet, so I still have _some _hope."

James decided to pipe in then. "Well, Red, he is _my_ son too; I'd be shocked if he _wasn't_ a troublemaker."

Lily's emerald eyes widened as she came to the same realization. "Oh bloody hell," she groaned, her face in her hands. "I'm doomed! The _earth_ is doomed!"

Alex laughed, patting his sister's leg. "Don't worry, Lils, I'm sure everything will be just fine."

Lily lifted her head and smiled. "Thanks Alex," she said, shaking her head clear and steering him back onto the original topic. "You came here to talk about Willow, though, didn't you?"

Alex's face instantly fell. "Lily—"

Lily knew from Alex's face that something was horribly wrong. "Alex," she said shakily, "just tell me. I know it's bad; I can see it in your face. Please, just tell me."

Alex took a deep breath and looked Lily straight in the eye. Emerald met sapphire as Alex said shakily, "Lil, Mum and Dad, they- they left custody of Willow to her godparents."

Lily gasped. "Ira and Sheila? They left custody of our baby sister to _them_? They hate magic just as much as Petunia and Vernon! Isn't there something—"

Alex frustratedly ran his hand through his thick chestnut brown hair. "I've tried everything, Lily!" he said sharply. "The bloody will is iron-clad. There's nothing we can do, short of convincing the Rosenbergs to give her up."

"Well, then we'll do that!" insisted Lily stubbornly.

Alex shook his head sadly. "I've already tried that," he said dully. "They're adamant about adopting her."

"Do they know about her magic?" asked James suddenly.

Alex nodded his head. "I was hoping that that would convince them to refuse to take her in, but they insisted that they could 'cure her of her abnormality,' as they so eloquently put it."

"_Abnormality?_" screeched Lily at the same time that James shouted, "_Cure_ her?"

"She isn't _abnormal_!" insisted Lily.

"There's nothing to _cure_," said James angrily.

"She's a perfectly _normal_ little girl!" Lily growled angrily.

Alex held up his hands to stop the couple's tirade. "I know, I know, and I completely agree with you," he said, "I was just telling you what Ira and Sheila said."

Lily and James's anger deflated and they stared sheepishly at the ground. "Sorry," they both said.

Lily looked sadly back up at her brother. "There's really nothing we can do, is there?" she whispered defeatedly.

Alex hung his head. "I'm so sorry, Lily. I swear I've tried everything, but there's just no way around the damn will."

Lily scooted closer to her big brother and hugged him tight. "I know you tried your hardest, Lexy. I don't blame you, you know. It's not your fault."

"But it _is_ my fault, Lil," he said sadly. "If I had been more responsible—"

"Don't you _dare_ think that, Alexander Matthew Evans!" said Lily sharply. "You are the _single_ _most_ _responsible_ person I know! You've been taking care of me for as long as I can remember _and_ I know for a fact that you've helped out my friends on more that one occasion—Jessi can't stop raving about how 'bloody amazing' you are, for Merlin's sake!"

"You're a great guy, Alex," said James, kneeling down in front of the siblings. "I'm proud to call you my brother. I know you've done everything you can…"

"When are they coming to take her?" asked Lily softly.

Alex looked at his sister sadly. "Three days," he responded almost inaudibly. "They're coming for her in three days."

* * *

_**January 9, 1988**_**:** James and Ana stood off to the side as the Evans siblings said their final goodbyes. Taylor, Jordan, Ember, and Ender had all been left with Remus Lupin (Ember and Ender's father)—the two sets of twins had said goodbye to their Auntie Will the night before (Ana and Lily hadn't wanted them to cause a scene in public)—and Vernon had flat out refused to come.

Willow had tears streaming down her porcelain cheeks as she hugged Alex, Tuney, and Lily like there was no tomorrow—which there wasn't for them, at least as a family. She couldn't believe that she had to go live with Auntie Sheila and Uncle Ira; they hated magic just as much as Tuney and Vernon did—maybe more, if that was even possible. Alex had explained that he had tried everything to keep her, but it just hadn't been possible. He made her a promise to write her every single day, though. Lily did too, and even Tuney promised to write "whenever she could."

All too soon Willow felt herself pulled away from her siblings by a pair of rough hands. "Let's go, girl," said Ira irritably. "Our flight's leaving."

Waving goodbye as Ira dragged her off, Willow couldn't help but burst into tears again. As she stared back at her family, she got the awful feeling that she would never see Lily or James again. This caused her to cry even harder. "Stop crying, girl," barked Ira. "You should be thanking your mother and me for saving you from those _freaks_ and _freak-lovers_!"

"They are _not_ freaks!" sobbed Willow. "And you are _not_ my parents!"

"Yes we are, girlie," he said sharply. "The papers went through yesterday. You are now Willow Eleanor _Rosenberg_, daughter of Ira and Sheila Rosenberg. We are going to raise you to be a good little Jewish girl and we _will_ cure you of your _abnormality_, do you understood me?" Willow could only nod meekly through her haze of tears as Ira led her onto the plane and sat her down between himself and his wife.

"Oh, so your father's told you the news then?" said Sheila, her so-obviously fake smile not reaching her eyes at all. "You are going to be the perfect daughter, Willow, I promise you. Now, get some sleep, little one—it'll be a very long time before we get to California."

Tears streaming silently down her face, Willow meekly complied. As the plane took off, Willow couldn't help but think about her family—her _real_ family—and how much she was going to miss them. She was headed off into the unknown; new parents, a new name, a new country, new everything. Through her haze of tears, Willow watched as England slowly faded into the distance and she couldn't help but think that the raging storm outside reflected her mood perfectly.


	7. Chapter 1: What Once Was Lost

**Chapter 1: What Once Was Lost**

_**June 2, 2002**_**: **Ever since his parents had told him that he was adopted, Daniel "Oz" Osborne had been looking for any information he could find on his birth parents. It had been almost six years since that fateful day and Oz had finally found something worth looking into. After slowing down (or rather, bringing to a screeching halt) his search for a couple years while he searched instead for a way to control the (very literal) wolf within him, he was finally able to track his adoption to a small, little-know agency in London, England called the Stewins Adoption Agency.

A week ago he had gone to the agency and spoken with the very agent, one Mrs. Miranda Cullins, who had handled his adoption. Apparently an elderly couple had found Oz hidden in the forest behind a destroyed mansion when he was about three months old. Mrs. Cullins didn't know if that had been his family's home, but she informed him that it appeared that he may have been the only survivor of the fire that had decimated the building that night.

Oz looked down again at the old newspaper article he held clutched in his black-nailed hand. According to the article, brothers Gideon and Fabian Prewett had been killed late in the night of April 21, 1980. The cause of death had been uncertain, but it had had nothing to do with the fire that had ravaged the house that night. The article also claimed that there had been no one else at the house. Carefully folding up the worn article, Oz stuck it back into his equally worn bag and headed into a small, run-down pub in London called the Leaky Cauldron. Standing in front of the building, he could literally feel the magic rolling off of the place and somehow he was oddly comforted by that.

Walking through the front door of the pub, Oz found that the inside wasn't much better than the outside; it was dark, dingy, and full of smoke, but at least it was mostly clean. He casually took a seat at the bar and absently fingered the small black box he kept in his pocket. The small, silver necklace inside, carved with the initials DOW, was the only other clue to his past; he had had it as long as he could remember, though he hadn't been able to wear it since his cousin Jordy had bitten him over four years ago.

"What'll it be, then?" asked the old man behind the bar, breaking Oz out of his reverie.

Oz looked up thoughtfully. "What do you recommend?" he asked.

The old man gave him a toothy grin. "Th' butterbeer's always good, though if yer lookin' fer somethin' stronger, I'd recommend th' Firewhisky."

Oz considered this thoughtfully, his stoic face betraying no emotion whatsoever. "Butterbeer then," he finally replied.

"Sure thing," said the bartender, expertly filling a glass and setting it in front of Oz.

Oz sat stoically sipping his butterbeer for several minutes, simply looking around the small pub. Upon hearing the bartender clear his throat, Oz looked up at the old man, raising his eyebrow in question. "Lookin' fer someone, are yeh?" asked the old man, refilling Oz's empty tankard.

Oz nodded. "Kingsley Shacklebolt," he replied simply. The bartender jerked his head, indicating a booth in the far back of the pub. Oz looked over when the barman had indicated to see a large black man sipping a tankard of his own. "Thanks," said Oz simply, grabbing his butterbeer and walking toward the large, black man.

**XXXX**

Oz silently approached the large, bald man. "Kingsley Shacklebolt?" he said quietly, coming up beside the booth.

The man looked up, large mocha eyes scrutinizing the small blue-haired youth in front of him. "Who's asking?" he asked, his voice deep and menacing.

"Daniel Osborne," Oz replied.

Kingsley nodded in response, indicating that Oz take a seat. Once Oz was seated, Kingsley got straight to the point. "Miranda Cullins from the Stewins Adoption Agency contacted me, said you were looking for your parents, right?"

Oz nodded, pulling out the well-worn newspaper clipping. "I traced my adoption there, but all they could tell me was that I was found in the woods not too far from this house the night the Prewett bothers died."

Kingsley glanced down at the muggle article, already knowing what it said; he had been in the auror training program at the time. His mentor had been assigned to the case and he had insisted that Kingsley work with him and get some practical field experience. Not sure how much the strange blue-haired boy knew about the wizarding world, Kingsley simply nodded. "I know the case," he said slowly. "Never heard about any kid being found, but I wouldn't doubt that it might have happened." That wasn't strictly true, however: Kingsley knew full well that a one-and-a-half-year-old Bill Weasley had been found just inside the edge of the forest behind the Prewetts' home with a bad head wound and a severe case of memory loss that night. Kingsley creased his brow in thought. He thought that he vaguely recalled Molly and Arthur Weasley mentioning something about a baby boy, but he wasn't certain—as just a trainee, he hadn't been privy to the more sensitive information pertaining to the attack. Kingsley looked over at Oz expectantly, but all he received in way of a response was a calm nod of the young man's head.

Several moments passed in contemplative silence. "Is this all you have to go on?" Kingsley asked the younger man suddenly.

In response, Oz reached into his pocket and pulled out the small box he had been fiddling with earlier, passing it over to the large, black auror. As Kingsley opened the box, Oz explained, "I've had that as long as I can remember—apparently it was on me when I was found."

"Mind if I borrow this for a while?" asked Kingsley, studying the silver necklace thoughtfully.

"Sure," replied Oz with a casual shrug.

Kingsley continued to study the necklace. "You wouldn't happen to know what DOW stands for, would you?" he asked thoughtfully.

Oz shrugged. "Not sure. Near as I can figure, they're my initials. Always figured that must be why my adoptive parents named me Daniel."

Kingsley appeared lost in thought. Oz lounged back in the booth, staring stoically at the older black man. After a minute or two of silence, Kingsley finally spoke again. "I have a hunch about your parents, but I need some time to do a bit of digging to confirm my suspicions."

Oz shrugged nonchalantly. "Time's not an issue." Kingsley looked at the odd, short man strangely. Oz raised his eyebrow and explained. "I've been looking for nearly six years now; I can wait a while longer."

Kingsley raised his dark eyebrow at Oz. "You must be an extremely patient person."

Oz shrugged. "It's a gift," he said passively.

Kingsley gave a small smile at that; Daniel Osborne was definitely a man of few words. "I'll need some of your hair," he said suddenly, "to test my suspicions, that is," he added quickly.

Without a word, Oz reached up and pulled out a few strands of his blue hair, placing it on a napkin and sliding it over to Kingsley, who pocketed it. "That it?" asked Oz.

Kingsley nodded. "I'll contact you when I find something," he said. Once again, Oz simply nodded in response. Kingsley slowly got up out of the booth, straightening his robes. Shaking Oz's hand, he asked one last question, "Out of curiosity, are you from America?"

Oz nodded. "Left about three years ago—haven't been back since."

Kingsley nodded again. "Hmm. Well, it was nice meeting you, Mr. Osborne—"

"Oz."

"Oz, then. I'll look into this as soon as I can and let you know what I come up with."

"Thanks."

"You plan on staying in town?"

Oz shrugged. "Don't really know; I move around a lot."

Kingsley nodded thoughtfully once again. "No matter," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "Well, good-bye, Oz. I'll talk to you again soon, I'm sure."

"Thanks," said Oz, gracing Kingsley with a rare smile. "I really do appreciate it." Kingsley nodded yet again (he seemed to really enjoy doing so) before turning and heading out the back door of the pub.

Oz sat in the booth a while longer, sipping on his butterbeer and contemplating the turn of good luck he seemed to have suddenly stumbled across. If this streak continued, it wouldn't be long before he would finally get to meet his _real_ parents…

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**If you like this story, let me know. If you have some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, please let me know (in a nice way). Flames are NOT appreciated (I'm under enough stress as it is, I can't handle any more). Thank You! **


	8. Chapter 2: A Promise Kept

**Chapter 2: A Promise Kept**

_**June 3, 2002**_**: **Molly Weasley was cooking up a storm in the kitchen when Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived at the Burrow. "Molly!" he called, peeking his shiny, bald head through the front door.

"In the kitchen!" came her frazzled response.

Kingsley followed the wondrous aromas through the house and into the kitchen. "Your cooking smells as lovely as ever, Molly," said Kingsley, a grin plastered on his Samuel L. Jackson-esque face, as he stepped into Molly's domain.

Molly looked up from the vegetables she was chopping to see who had come over. Seeing Kingsley, her smile brightened before faltering slightly. "Hello, Kingsley. Please sit down," said the every-motherly Mrs. Molly Weasley. "Would you care for a cup of tea?"

Taking the offered seat, Kingsley replied, "Thank you, Molly; that would be lovely. Two sugars, please." With a wave of her wand, Molly conjured up a tea cup and poured the offered beverage. Handing the cup to the large auror, Molly instantly went back to chopping the veggies.

"So, what brings you here today, Kingsley? Has something happened at the Ministry?" she asked, slightly worried, while continuing to prepare her family's meal.

"No, no, Molly, nothing's wrong," reassured Kingsley. Molly gave a sigh of relief. "I'm actually here to talk to both you and Arthur," he said, sipping his tea. "I've already flooed him and asked him to come home early. He should be here about—"

"Molly! I'm home!" came a loud, happy cry from the front hall.

"—now," finished Kingsley with a smile on his face.

"In the kitchen, Arthur!" called Molly, never once looking up from the vegetables.

Arthur Weasley came into the kitchen smiling. He kissed his wife hello in greeting and sat down at the table across from Kingsley. "So what's all this about, Kingsley?" asked Arthur, his face going serious as he took his tea from his wife as she sat down beside him. "What's so important that you called me home from work early?"

Kingsley gave a sigh. "I had an…_unusual_…meeting yesterday afternoon."

Arthur furrowed his brow. "I don't see what that has to do with Molly and me," he said, sipping his tea slowly.

Kingsley fiddled with his teacup nervously, trying to think of the best way to approach the subject. Finally coming to the conclusion that there was just no easy way to do it, he barreled right in. "Gideon and Fabian Prewett were attacked and killed by Death Eaters twenty-two years ago, correct?"

"Twenty-two years this past April," replied Molly quietly, the strain in her voice obvious. "What do my brothers' deaths have to do with anything? That was a very long time ago Kingsley –why bring it up now?"

Kingsley gave another sigh. "I'm sorry for bringing it up, Molly, I really am; you know I wouldn't if it wasn't important." Molly nodded her head in reluctant understanding and Kingsley rubbed his shiny, bald head as he carefully considered his next words. "You remember Christian Potter, of course," he began slowly.

Molly and Arthur nodded thoughtfully, a bittersweet look coming across both of their faces. "Of course," replied Arthur, a small smile creeping across his face. "He was a wonderful man and a great friend—a hell of an auror, too."

"He's the one who found our Bill that day," said Molly softly, blinking back tears. "He was so kind; he became like a brother to us after that—did you know he named Arthur and I godparents of his little girl, Cordelia?"

Kingsley smiled wistfully. "I didn't know that," he said softly. "He was my mentor during my auror training, you know."

Arthur nodded his head smiling slightly. "I remember," he said simply.

"You were there that night weren't you?" asked Molly slowly, a flood of long-suppressed memories suddenly coming back to her.

Kingsley nodded. "I was in my second year of auror training and Chris had just taken me on as his protégé; that was my first real field experience," he told his former year-mate and her husband wistfully.

Molly smiled slightly. "Chris always used to say that he was surprised that you were a Ravenclaw, you know; he thought you'd have made an _excellent_ Gryffindor."

Kingsley chuckled. "He used to say that to me all the time; at least twice a week…right up until he died…" Kingsley suddenly became serious again. "Molly, do you remember what Chris promised you that night?"

Molly started. "Promised? What he pro—" Suddenly it hit her. "Danny," she breathed softly before completely breaking down on her husband's shoulder.

Arthur soothing stroked his wife's curly red hair. "He promised Molly that he would find our Danny; that he would never give up searching for him," said Arthur roughly, working hard to hold back the flood of tears that threatened to fall from his own eyes; he had to be strong for his wife.

Kingsley nodded. "I'm sorry to bring it up, Molly, Arthur. I know what a painful subject it still is for you."

Molly swiftly wiped away her tears and took a moment to compose herself. "It's not something you can easily forget orget over, Kingsley," said Molly bitterly. "In fact, it's not something you _ever_ really get over."

"Losing a child is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy," said Arthur softly, causing the three old friends to lapse into a thoughtful silence.

"I know it sounds crazy," said Molly suddenly, "but I _know_ he's still alive out there, somewhere. I just _know_ it."

Kingsley smiled at the fiery Weasley matriarch; she had to be one of the strongest people he knew. He gave Molly's hand a comforting pat as he continued. "You know Chris never gave up the search, right?"

Molly and Arthur started in surprise. "Surely—" began Arthur.

Kingsley shook his head vigorously. "No. He never gave up, not even when he died."

At this statement, the Weasleys looked quizzically at the large black auror. "What do you mean by that, Kingsley?" asked Molly, confused.

Kingsley took a deep breath. "Chris always knew that there was a chance that he wouldn't make it through the war, so he took certain precautions," he explained slowly. "About a month before he and Joan were killed, he took James and me aside and made both of us swear to continue his search for your son should anything happen to him."

"James?" whispered Molly.

Kingsley nodded. "Chris's son James Potter."

Arthur shook his head in disbelief, running a hand through his thinning red hair. "I never knew that," he said softly.

Kingsley shrugged. "You wouldn't," he replied simply. "James and I were the only ones who knew about the task Chris had given us. James did his best—he and I spent a good year and a half looking for leads together—

but then…well, James had to consider his own wife and son. That was around the time the Potters went into hiding, you see. Then James and Lily were killed and I knew that it would be up to me to find your son. For the first few years after their death, I searched almost religiously for your son." Molly and Arthur started and stared at their friend. Kingsley gave a weak smile. "As much as I hate to admit it, after a couple years of absolutely no leads I was sorely tempted to just give up. Then I remembered how much you and your family had meant to Chris and I realized that I could _never_ give up until I found him."

Molly and Arthur looked at their friend in awe. "Y-you did all that for us?" whispered Molly.

Kingsley nodded. "And for Chris; I knew how much it meant to him. He was like a father to me, you know."

Arthur shook his head in disbelief and Molly blinked rapidly to get rid of her tears. "You know," she said suddenly, "we made Chris and Joan Charlie's godparents when he was born."

Kingsley smiled. "The four of you were close, weren't you?"

Molly smiled back at him. "Despite the fact that their son was only six years younger than me, yes, we were very close. Chris helped fill the void my brothers' deaths left—not that he could have _ever_ replaced them, mind you, but still…" Molly trailed off suddenly.

Arthur cleared his throat loudly. "Not to cut this trip down memory lane short, Kingsley, but Bill and Charlie will be coming home soon. Was there something you needed to tell us?"

Kingsley chuckled. "Yes, Arthur, there was."

Molly raised her eyebrow at her auror friend. "Well? What is it then?" she asked.

Kingsley took a deep breath. "I told you I had an…_unusual_…meeting yesterday, right?" Molly and Arthur both nodded. "Well, I was at work yesterday morning when I received an owl from one Miranda Cullins from the Stewins Adoption Agency in London asking me to meet with a young man at the Leaky Cauldron. The letter didn't say much more than that, but it still intrigued me, so I went. When I arrived, I was approached by a strange young man. He was quite short and well-built with painted black fingernails and blue hair." At this, Molly pursed her lips in disapproval and Arthur did his best to suppress a chuckle. Kingsley smiled and continued, "He was an oddly stoic young man—couldn't have been more than twenty-two or twenty-three. He introduced himself to me and said that the Agency had told him that I could help him track down his parents. When I asked him if he knew anything about them, he handed me this." As he said this, Kingsley set the muggle article about the death of the Prewetts on the table in front of the Weasleys.

Molly gasped and covered her mouth. Arthur raised his eyebrow in surprise. "This is a muggle article," he stated slowly. He looked at Kingsley quizzically. "Why would a muggle come to you about his parents?"

Kingsley shrugged. "I don't know, but I can only assume that he wasn't exactly a muggle—he _was_ able to see the Leaky Cauldron after all."

Arthur nodded thoughtfully. "That's true…"

"Is that all the boy said?" questioned Molly. "And what does any of this have to do with Arthur and me?"

Kingsley held out his hand to stop Molly's tirade of questions. "I'm getting there, Molly, be patient please." Molly nodded her head in reluctant acceptance.

"As I was saying," Kingsley continued, "this young man handed me this article and told me that after nearly six years of searching, he had tracked his adoption to the Stewins Agency in London. They had given him the article, telling him that whoever had brought him there had found him in the forest behind your brothers' home the night of the attack."

Molly gasped sharply and Arthur's eyes widened. "Is there something you're not telling us, Kingsley?" asked Molly a bit more sharply than she intended.

Kingsley paused for a moment. "Molly, Arthur, what was your son's name? His _full_ name?"

"I don't see how—"

"It's important, Molly," said Kingsley firmly. "Trust me."

Molly nodded reluctantly. "Daniel Osmond Weasley," she said softly, brushing a tear from her face. "His full name was Daniel Osmond Weasley."

Kingsley nodded, a smile creeping across his face. Molly was wiping away her tears and didn't notice this, but Arthur did. "What is it, Kingsley?" he asked, staring down the younger man.

"We talked for a bit," said Kingsley slowly, unable to keep the smile from his face, "this strange man and I. He definitely grew up in America—the accent is unmistakable—but he said he hasn't been there in three years. He mentioned that he's been traveling since he left…"

Arthur raised his brow. He was normally a very patient man (raising six rambunctious boys and one very spunky girl can do that to a person), but he could tell that Kingsley was purposefully avoiding something here. "Just spit it out, Kingsley," said Arthur rather more sharply than he meant to.

Kingsley raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, Arthur. No need to get your knickers in a twist. Anyway, I asked him if there was anything else he knew about his parents and he handed me this, saying it had been on him when he was found." Kingsley passed them the small black box Oz had handed to him the day before and watched as the couple opened it. Molly gasped as she saw what lay inside. Arthur picked up the necklace and simply stared.

Molly started to cry. "I-it l-looks j-just l-like the n-necklace G-Gid g-gave t-to D-Danny the d-day he was b-born!" she managed to get out over her sobs.

Kingsley smiled widely. "He gave me some of his hair yesterday," he said matter-of-factly, as though it was an everyday occurrence that someone handed him his hair. "I did the tests this morning. Molly, Arthur, I'm very pleased to tell you that I've found your son."

Arthur was rendered speechless and Molly completely broke down, throwing herself on Kingsley, who patted her back awkwardly. "Oh Merlin, sweet Merlin! My baby!" she sobbed. "You found my baby, Kingsley! Thank you, oh _thank you_!"

Kingsley patted her again and tried to pry her off of himself. "You're quite welcome, Molly," he said with a smile.

Arthur, having regained the ability to speak, asked in a strained voice, "How was he? Is he alright?"

Kingsley, finally free from Molly, shrugged. "We didn't really talk too much, unfortunately; I wanted to run the tests as soon as possible." Arthur nodded thoughtfully at that. Kingsley continued. "He seemed like a nice young man—a bit strange, maybe, and _very_ calm. I'm not sure how much he knows about magic or our world—I got the feeling that he knows _something_, but I also get the feeling that he grew up as a muggle." Arthur smiled at that.

"Does he still go by Daniel?" asked Molly suddenly, her warm, honey brown eyes piercing right into Kingsley.

"He introduced himself as Daniel Osborne," replied Kingsley. He suddenly chuckled. "He told me to call him Oz, though."

"Oz," pondered Molly, frowning slightly. "It's a bit strange…"

Kingsley shrugged. "It seemed to fit him," he stated honestly.

Molly nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose…"

"He _is_ almost twenty-three, Molly," said Arthur soothingly.

Molly nodded again. "That's true…" Suddenly a thought came to her and she turned her gaze back to Kingsley. "Does he want to meet us, then?" She suddenly sounded uncharacteristically apprehensive and about twenty years younger than she actually was.

Kingsley gave a small smile. "I think he might, Molly, but I'm not positive—why else would he spend so many years searching for you?. I told him I'd contact him as soon as I found anything out."

"Have you?" asked Arthur.

"Not yet; I wanted to tell you first." Arthur nodded in approval.

"Can we write him, then?" asked Molly, tears of joy clouding her vision.

Kingsley shrugged. "I don't see why not." He suddenly paused. "He _did_ say he didn't know how long he would be in town for, so he may not be able to meet you right away." Molly looked a bit crestfallen at this news.

"You said he was most likely raised as a muggle," said Arthur suddenly.

"That's right," said Kingsley, nodding his dark, shiny, bald head.

"So wouldn't he find a letter delivered by an owl to be a bit…strange? Muggles don't use owls for post, right?"

Kingsley chuckled. "You're right about the owls, Arthur, but somehow I don't think it will faze him too much." Arthur raised his eyebrow in a silent question. Kingsley shrugged and explained, "The way he acted in the Leaky Cauldron, it didn't seem like there was much that would truly surprise him. He seemed to take all the robes, pointed hats, and public displays of magic in stride—the boy didn't even bat an eyelid once."

"How do you know he was raised as a muggle, then, and not as a wizard?" asked Molly.

"No wand, for one," said Kingsley, ticking off the reasons with his long, dark fingers. "He's not a squib, that's for sure—I could feel the untrained power coming off of him, not that he seemed to know or even notice this —and the article, its definitely muggle. If he was raised in our world, he would have found the article from the _Prophet_ instead."

Arthur nodded his head thoughtfully. "That makes sense," he said slowly.

Molly turned to look at Kingsley again. "If we write him a letter, will you make sure he gets it?" she asked.

Kingsley smiled. "Of course Molly."

Suddenly they heard the front door bang open and the sound of laughing and talking filled the house. "I'd better be off then," said Kingsley. "I'll come back tomorrow for the letter, Molly," he added, standing up. "Arthur, I'll see you at work tomorrow."

Arthur nodded. "Goodbye Kingsley and thank you."

"Yes, thank you _so much_," replied Molly, a broad smile spreading across her tearstained face.

Kingsley gave a nod. "You're quite welcome. Until tomorrow then Arthur, Molly." With that, Kingsley turned on the spot and apparated out of the Burrow with a loud CRACK.


	9. Chapter 3: Decisions

**Note:** I had some really awesome fonts for the letters in this chapter, but alas, they don't show up. *poutsandsulks* Okay, I'm better now. *backtoplotting/writing*

**Disclaimer:** In case you've forgotten I DON'T OWN ANYTHING YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE! I'm not JK Rowling or Joss Whedon, I'm just a poor college student who needs an outlet for her stress and all the crazy random ideas floating around in her head.

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**Chapter 3: Decisions**

_**June 6, 2002**_**:** Oz was packing the last of his things into his van (not that he had all that much to begin with anyway) so that he could head off on his next adventure. He had just strapped his guitar safely in place when an owl swooped down, landing next to him on the floor of the back of his van.

"Hey," said Oz, taking the strange appearance of the small bird in stride. "Isn't it a little early for you to be out? One nocturnal creature to another, it's not quite sunset, you know." The owl simply hooted and held out its leg, which had a roll of parchment tied to it. "This for me?" The owl hooted an affirmative. Oz untied the parchment and gazed at the small bird. "You thirsty?" Taking the owl's hooting as an affirmative, Oz pulled out a water bottle and poured some into a small aluminum bowl.

While the owl was drinking, Oz dug through his smaller bag and pulled out some jerky, breaking off a small piece. "Don't know if you'll like this, but hey," said Oz, holding out the piece of dried meat to the bird. The bird nibbled it a bit and hooted appreciatively before taking off. "Strange," Oz said to himself as he watched the owl fly away.

Sitting down in the back of his van and shutting the doors, he stared down at the strange parchment in his hand. Oz couldn't help but raise his eyebrow as he saw the strange way that it was addressed:

_Mr. D. Osborne_

_The Back of the Van_

_The Street in Front of the Sleeping Wolf Inn_

_London, England  
_

"Huh," was all Oz said before carefully unrolling the parchment. Once unrolled, he discovered that there were actually two sheets of parchment. He read the shorter one first. It read:

_Oz-_

_I just wanted to let you know that I have found your parents. As it turns out, they've been looking for you for twenty-two years now and were quite delighted, to say the least, to finally find you, so they asked if they could send you a letter. Your parents are quite anxious to meet you in person, though I did inform them that you said you might be traveling. If you can, please write them back as soon as possible; they understand that you may not be able to meet them right away, but they would still love to hear from you. It would mean the world to both of them to just hear from you that you are okay._

_I realize that I don't really know you, but I find myself needing to tell you this anyway: your birth parents are amazing people, Oz. We attended the same school and I was in the same year as your mother. I've also been close friends with both her and your father for years. My mentor was also a close friend of theirs and he led the search for you for nearly seven years, up until his death._

_I wish you the best of luck in re-connecting with your family. If you need anything else, please feel free to contact me. This may sound a bit strange, but all you have to do to reach me is find an owl and send your letter off with it; it will know how to find me._

_Best of Luck,_

_Kingsley Shacklebolt  
_

Oz nodded thoughtfully to himself as he finished reading the letter. Kingsley Shacklebolt certainly seemed like a decent guy.

Taking into consideration what Kingsley had said in his letter, Oz didn't even hesitate to open the second letter. It read:

_Dearest Daniel,_

_Dear Merlin! I'd almost given up hope of ever finding you again! When Kingsley came and told us that he had finally found you, we were ecstatic! Words cannot even begin to express how much your father and I have missed you, how much we have longed to find you._

_I'm not sure what exactly I should tell you first, Daniel. Well, first off, my name is Molly Weasley and your father, my husband, is Arthur Weasley. You have an older brother (Bill), five younger brothers (Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, and Ron), and a younger sister (Ginny)._

_Bill, short for William, is twenty-three and, until recently,, he worked for a bank in Egypt. However, due to certain recent events, he has decided to transfer to the bank's London branch and come back home. Bill doesn't like to talk about his relationships until they get serious, so we haven't heard whether or not he has a lady friend right now. He does spend a lot of time with his best friend's widow and her twins, but that relationship is purely platonic—Bill, Chase, and Mya were all very close and neither Bill nor Mya are quite over Chase's death yet, even after nearly two years._

_Charlie, short for Charles, is twenty-one and he works on an animal preserve in Romania. It's quite dangerous work, but he truly loves his job. He and his long-time girlfriend Liana somehow manage to successfully maintain a long distance relationship with him in Romania and her constantly traveling the world with her boss—she's the manager for world famous dancer Jessica Martini. Charlie and Liana are not married yet, but they do have three absolutely wonderful children: Kentley (Kent) is three, almost four, Mackenzie (Kenzie) is two, almost three, and Mikayla (Kayla) is just six months old. I do wish they would hurry up and get married, but both are far too stubborn for their own good, especially when it comes to the topic of matrimony._

_Percy will be eighteen in two months—he graduates from school on June 8th of this year. He was Head Boy of the exclusive boarding school all of your siblings and your father and I have attended (Bill was Head Boy in his day as well) this year. Percy already has a job lined up at the Ministry for when he graduates; he is very excited to begin working there. As far as I know he has a steady girlfriend in Penelope Clearwater, his year-mate and a prefect, though I don't know how serious they actually are. I haven't personally met her, but she sounds like a lovely girl for Percy._

_Fred, short for Frederick, and George are twins; they are sixteen and the pranksters of the family. They are finishing up their fifth year of school (there are seven years total) this year. Unfortunately, unlike their elder brothers, they were not made prefects. Fred and George have caused more trouble than all of the rest of their siblings combined! They are quite smart actually, if only they would spend more time on their studies and less time pranking people and causing trouble. Fred tends to go through girlfriends rather quickly, though the object of his desire is one Cassiopeia Black, one of Ron's best mates. She'll never have him though; she's too much in love with her best friend's twin brother Harry Potter to think of anyone else. George on the other hand is a one woman man. He and Mary Evans-Potter (Harry's twin sister) have been dating since September 2, 1999. Sure they have had the occasional fight, but it's almost always my George's fault! He just doesn't always understand women. Poor Mary! She really loves him, you know. She and Harry and Cassiopeia and Hermione (Granger) are all like my own children to me, but especially Mary—if George doesn't screw things up too royally, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mary added to the family tree after she's finished with school. She really is a sweet girl, you know, despite her rather infamous temper._

_Ron, short for Ronald, is fourteen and is finishing his third year of school this year. Ron is very loyal to his friends; three of his best friends (Mary, Harry, and Cassiopeia) spent the summer with us last year, and they and their other best friend (Hermione) are planning on visiting us again this coming summer. Ron does fairly well in school, though he does have a tendency to get into trouble—not nearly as much as the twins, though. He is especially good at chess; he even got recognized for his skill at the end of his first year. He and Mary love to pick on each other; it's quite amusing, actually. They truly act like brother and sister nearly all of the time. Ron doesn't have a girlfriend, but whenever you mention his best friend Hermione around him, his ears go red, a sure sign that there's something there—not that either of them realize it yet, mind you. Ah, young love._

_Ginny, short for Ginevra, will be thirteen in two months. She is finishing up her second year of school this year. She had a pretty rough first year last year, but she seems to be doing much better now. In fact, it seems that this year was a big turnaround for her. Ginny has finally made a friend of her own: Melinda Santos. I haven't yet met the girl, but by the way Ginny goes on about her, she sounds absolutely wonderful. Ginny is still a bit young yet to have a boyfriend—all the boys including her father agree wholeheartedly with that, though Ginny herself is none too pleased. She does, however, have a crush on someone: Mary's twin brother Harry. It's quite cute, actually. She's normally very outgoing and peppy, but when she gets around Harry all she can do is stammer and stutter and blush. Those two would make such a cute couple, though I do worry about the strain her crush may put on her friendship with Cassiopeia. They are all still young yet, though, so there is really no rush for them to pair up just yet._

_Your father Arthur and I actually married over Christmas holiday during my seventh year at school (as I mentioned before, your father and I both attended the same school as your brothers and sister): December 21, 1977 is our anniversary. We've been happily married for twenty-four years now and we live just outside of Ottery St. Catchpole. Your father works for the Ministry. He's been offered a promotion many times, but he loves his current position far too much to give it up. My job is just to be the best wife and mother I can be and I absolutely love it._

_I don't know if you know your real birthday, so I thought I'd tell you: you were born at exactly one pm on January 15, 1980 in London and your full name is Daniel Osmond Weasley. The necklace you gave to Kingsley was actually a gift from your godfather, my older brother Gideon Prewett, given to you on the day you were born. You were a rather small baby; so fragile and tiny. You never cried; you just stared at all of us with your stormy blue eyes—the same blue as my father's. You had the most beautiful red hair, too—it's a Weasley trait, the red hair. All of us have red hair—even myself; my brothers were redheads too (it's also a Prewett trait as well, you see)._

_That leads me to the night you disappeared. My big brothers, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, were babysitting you and Bill while your father and I had a night out to ourselves—our first night out alone since Bill was born. All that night I had a feeling that something was wrong, but Gid and Fab told me that I was just being a worrywart. Turns out I was right after all._

_Before I can explain what happened that night, there's something else I have to tell you. I know this is an awful lot of information to put into a simple letter, but I feel you have a right to know. Danny, magic is real. Our whole family going back generations has been magical, including you; the Weasleys are an old pureblood family as are the Prewetts (my side of the family). We are all witches and wizards—well, except for one of my second cousins who happens to be an accountant, but we don't talk about him much. There are some in our world—the wizarding world that is—who would tell you that purity of blood is all that matters, but our family has always thought that that prejudice is just silly. Some of the best witches and wizards I have known are half-bloods (a muggle or muggleborn parent and a half-blood or pureblood parent) and muggleborns. A muggle, by the way, is a non-magical person and muggleborns are witches and wizards who come from all muggle families. Most pureblood families are very elitist and prejudice against anyone who isn't a pureblood like themselves. Our family may be purebloods, but we are what the elitist purebloods refer to as blood traitors and muggle-lovers; we know that the purity of one's blood has absolutely nothing to do with how good a witch or wizard is._

_I should probably give you some kind of explanation about the wizarding world—providing you don't crumple this letter up and burn it because you think we're a bunch of nutters and you want nothing more to do with us. Ron's friends have told us of the varying reactions they had to the revelation that magic is real, so I don't expect you to just accept it blindly. The wizarding world is its own separate world. We have our own schools, hospitals, government, villages, and shops. We use wands to perform our magic; it's the most basic tool of a wizard's education. The school our whole family has attended for generations is called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, currently run by headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Magical children who have had or will have their eleventh birthday before September 1st are sent a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts the summer before they are to start. This letter details what possessions are acceptable to take to the school and what supplies are needed for classes. Gringotts bank (the wizarding bank) is run by goblins. Bill actually worked as a curse breaker for them in Egypt, though I'm not quite sure what he's doing for them now that he's transferred back home. Wizarding money is fairly easy for us, but I have been informed by those who didn't grow up in our world that it can be a bit tricky, so I'll just leave that particular explanation for another time. The Ministry of Magic is our governing body. The current Minister is Cornelius Fudge, though he's really not doing all that great of a job at it. Arthur heads up the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office—he's absolutely batty about anything muggle and Percy's new job is in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Diagon Alley is the main place in London where witches and wizards go to buy their magic supplies: robes, wands, potion ingredients, familiars, brooms, quidditch supplies, etc; it's actually located out the back of the Leaky Cauldron. Kingsley was a bit surprised that you didn't seem more surprised by the pub—you know, the Leaky Cauldron is protected so that muggles can't see it. Quite handy, really. Secrecy is a big thing. We must keep our world a secret from the muggles—there's some law about that, but Hermione would probably know better than I about that; she's quite a brilliant young woman, really—Mary and Cassi as well. Oh dear, I seem to have gone a bit off track, haven't I? Well, I'll just say one last thing before I get back on subject. Charlie does work in Romania, but he actually works on a dragon preserve. A Dragon Tamer is both one of the best paying and one of the most dangerous jobs out there, but for some Merlin forsaken reason, your brother absolutely loves it._

_Anyway, to get right down to it, I will tell you what happened the night you went missing. On April 21, 1980, Arthur and I left you and Bill with your uncles for the evening. Being the paranoid mother that I was, I checked in on you boys at least once every twenty to thirty minutes. Finally I couldn't take it any longer, so Arthur and I left the restaurant and headed back to my brothers'. By the time we arrived back to the Prewett Manor, it was too late. Hanging above my brothers' house was the Dark Mark—the Dark Mark is the mark that You-Know-Who's servants, the Death Eaters, send into the sky after they kill. When we went into the house I found my brothers lying dead in the hallway. They put up such a fight and managed to stun a couple of the Death Eaters before the Killing Curse was fired. I was in shock, so Arthur flooed the Ministry and they sent over some aurors (dark wizard catchers) to help out. Neither Arthur nor I had any idea what had happened to you or Bill. We finally found a man carrying little Bill out of the forest—he had a very bad concussion and as a consequence suffered severe memory loss; he doesn't remember much of anything that happened before waking up at St. Mungo's (a magical hospital) three days later. That was also the night I met Chris Potter. He was one of the top aurors and we immediately clicked. He became like another brother to me and his wife became the sister I never had—despite the fact that their son was only six years younger than me. Chris and Joan and Arthur and I became very close; we named them both godparents to Charlie, and they named us godparents to their youngest, Cordelia—she's about a year younger than you, but I haven't heard from her since her parents died and Arthur and I were refused custody. Chris was a very loyal man; the night that he brought Bill back to us, he swore an oath to me that he would never stop looking for you. He kept that promise, passing it down to his son James (Merlin rest his soul) and his apprentice Kingsley (Shacklebolt), who was like a second son to him._

_We are all looking forward to meeting you, Daniel. I do hope you are able to come visit us soon. If you can't, we will understand, but, please, at least do send us a letter and let us know how you are doing._

_With all our love,_

_Molly & Arthur Weasley (Mum and Dad)_

_P.S. ~ Don't worry about Molly; she's just very excited to have finally found you—not that I'm not, of course, because I am. I just want you to know, son, that the intention of this letter is not to scare you off. Rather, it's to tell you the truth and to let you know that we love you very much and as a Weasley you will always have a place here with us should you need or want it. Oh, yes: don't worry about the owl. That's the normal way for witches and wizards to send post. It's fairly simple really: you just tell the bird who you want the letter delivered to, and send him off. Muggles us stamps, don't they? And postmen, right? Oh, and those automobiles! Oh dear, your mother is giving me that look again. I believe I shall stop here and let her give this to Kingsley before she hexes me. Once again, I do hope we haven't scared you away, son. –Love, Dad er, Arthur (whichever you prefer)  
_

Oz finished the letter and folded it up carefully before sticking it into his bag. It was a lot of information—being the second oldest of eight kids, for one. Then there was the whole magic thing. Of course Oz already knew that magic existed, he just never realized that there was a whole separate community just for magic users, or that he was one of them.

Oz sighed and pulled out the letter he had received and read earlier that day; the one that told him that Willow's girlfriend Tara had been shot and killed and that Willow had gone over the deep end with her magicks and was now on a Giles-sponsored trip to a coven in Devon to learn to control her power and use it for good. After reading the letter for what seemed like the thousandth time, Oz came to the decision that Willow needed him. He didn't know what it was, but he just _knew_ that his beautiful redheaded goddess needed him—if only to be a friend—during her time of grief, so that was where he was headed. His family would just have to wait a bit longer, though nothing could stop him from writing them back a letter of his own…though he did feel inclined to leave out the werewolf detail; he felt that _that_ particular issue was better addressed in person.


	10. Chapter 4: Another Weasley

**Note:** Again with the non-showing up of the cool fonts! It's makes me so sad; it looked so cool on my computer and it's so plain here. *sigh* I'll get over it...eventually...

* * *

**Chapter 4: Another Weasley  
**

_**June 12, 2002**_**:** Molly Weasley practically ran into the kitchen. "Arthur! Arthur!" she called, waving a piece of parchment in the air as she practically flew through the door. "Call the children! Hurry!"

"What's the matter, dear?" asked Arthur concerned, coming down the stairs.

"He sent us a letter, Arthur!" Molly practically screeched, clutching the letter tightly in her hand. "We didn't scare him off!"

Arthur smiled fondly at his wife. "I'll round up the kids, Molls," said Arthur, smiling at his lovely wife. "Why don't you whip up a nice lunch for us while you're at it, eh?" he added with a broad, playful wink.

"Arthur Charles Weasley!" shrieked Molly, frazzled and worried over what could possible be in the letter.

Arthur came over to his wife and kissed her on her forehead. "It'll be fine Mollywobbles, I promise," he whispered in her ear; his nearness and voice still sent tinges up Molly's spine even after twenty-four years of marriage.

"Alright, I'll calm down. Cooking always helps me do that anyway," she said, as if it had been her idea all along. Arthur simply nodded in agreement. Molly suddenly turned on him. "Well? What are you waiting for, Arthur? Get the children—all of them! And _no excuses_ this time, understand?!"

"Yes, dear," replied Arthur as he headed up the stairs to fetch their brood of redheaded children, leaving Molly in her element, cooking up a meal large enough to feed an entire army—or their family.

**XXXX**

Twenty minutes later Molly surveyed the kitchen table, giving an approving nod. Arthur was seated at the head, as it should be. On one side sat her eldest sons: Bill and Charlie talking about Quidditch and Percy attempting to engage his father in a conversation about the Ministry. On the other side sat her younger sons and her only daughter: Fred and George had their heads together, scheming up Merlin only knows what, and Ron and Ginny switched between discussing tactics for chess and tactics for Quidditch. Molly, at the end of the table opposite her husband, smiled at her happy family. _And soon it will be complete again,_ she thought gleefully to herself.

The Weasleys were about halfway through their meal when Molly decided that it was time. Clearing her throat loudly to get her family's attention, she waved the letter over her head. "What's that Mum?" asked Ron and Charlie simultaneously.

"This is a letter from someone very dear to this family—"

"Harry!" said Ginny, blushing a bit as she said so.

"Mione!" suggested Ron, his ears turning bright red at just the thought of the brown-eyed, bushy-haired bookworm.

"Li!" said Charlie, grinning furiously.

"Mr. Crouch," put in Percy, as stiff and pompous as ever.

"Mary!" said George almost dreamily.

"Cassi!" suggested Fred, grinning manically.

"Father Christmas," put in Bill, getting annoyed. "Why don't we all just shut up and I'm sure Mum will tell us who it's from."

"Thank you Bill," said Molly, beaming at her eldest. "Now, your father and I have never told any of you this before because, well, frankly, it's been a rather painful subject up until now."

"What are you talking about, Mum?" asked Ginny sweetly.

Arthur stood up and went over to join his wife at her end of the table. "What your mother is trying to tell you is that you have another brother."

"WHAT?!"

"Are you serious?"

"Bloody hell!"

"Language, Ron!"

"Huh?"

"I think that we …."

"…should let…"

"…dear Mum…"

"…and Dad…"

"…explain this," Fred and George finished together.

"Thank you boys," said Arthur. "Now, I'm sure you all have a lot of questions…"

"How old is he?" asked Ginny hopefully; maybe she wouldn't be the youngest anymore.

"He's twenty-two," said Molly. _Damn_, thought Ginny dejectedly.

"What's his name?" asked Bill.

"Daniel Osmond Weasley," replied Arthur.

"What happened to him?" asked Charlie.

"The night that your uncles were killed, he went missing," explained Molly. "We've been searching for him ever since and it turns out he's been searching for us too—he met Auror Shacklebolt at the Leaky Cauldron, who put two and two together and figured out that Daniel is our son."

"What does he do?" asked Percy.

"I'm not sure," said Arthur truthfully. "Kingsley didn't say." Percy sniffed indignantly.

"What does he look like?" asked Ron curiously.

"Well," said Arthur, "according to Kingsley, he's quite short, but well-built apparently. He has stormy blue eyes and his hair's naturally red—of course—though Kingsley said it was blue when he met him. Ah—Kingsley also mentioned that he wears his fingernails painted black and he dresses like a muggle." Ron smiled happily—looked like he might have another cool older brother.

"We would like to know…" began Fred.

"…does our brother dear…"continued George.

"…know about magic…"

"…and does he prefer…"

"…to be called Daniel…"

"…or Danny…"

"…or something else entirely," they finished together as their entire family rolled their eyes at their antics.

"First off," said Molly, "I told him about magic in the letter I wrote to him, but I don't know how he took the news."

"Secondly," interjected Arthur, "When he was a baby we always called Daniel 'Danny,' but now, according to Kingsley, who has actually met him, he goes by Oz."

"Oz," muttered Bill. "That's pretty wicked."

"Mum," interrupted Ginny, "can we just go ahead and read the letter? I'd like to get to know this new brother of mine. _Please!_"

Arthur chuckled at his daughter's antics. "Yes, Molly, why don't you read it aloud for us."

"Are you sure you don't want to, Arthur?"

"It'll be alright, Molly. Just take a deep breath," she did just that, "now let it out," she did that too. "Good girl. Now, let's crack open that letter and see what Dan—_Oz_—has to say about himself."

Molly smiled and, shaking nervously, opened the letter and began to read aloud:

_Hey._

_Sorry I couldn't come up with something cooler there. Oh well, better luck next time. I guess I should tell you right off the bat that I've known about magic and the supernatural for years now. Never would have guessed on a hidden wizarding society, though. Willow would love that—especially the magic school part._

_So I'm a wizard. Does that mean I can do magic and stuff? Huh. Never would've thought. Suppose it does answer a few questions I've had over the years, though…but enough about that. You told me all about my family; it's only fair I tell you something about me. Well, here goes…_

_I was raised as Daniel Osborne in a small town in California called Sunnydale. I was sixteen when Rob and Nancy (my adoptive parents) told me that I was adopted. To tell the truth, I wasn't all that surprised; I was always so different from them, especially in the height department (I don't' know if you know, but I'm a bit on the short side of short)._

_I was seventeen and on my first go 'round of senior year when I found out the truth about Sunnydale—it's on a Hellmouth. That is to say, it attracts all kind of demons and other nasties, many hell-bent on destroying the world. That was the year I started to help out. It was also the year my life changed drastically in a very different way—but that's not something I want to discuss in a letter._

_When I was seventeen, right before I found out that I was living on a Hellmouth with demons and vamps and such, I met the girl of my dreams. I first saw her when my band (I was lead guitar) was playing at The Bronze (the local nightclub). We were playing at a culture appreciation dance type-thing and I happened to look up and I saw her. She was standing all alone, dressed up in a fuzzy Eskimo suit; she looked so adorable. As soon as the song was done I walked across the dance floor to find her, but she left just a second before I got to her. That was the first of many such near-encounters. At long last the day came when I finally met her. It was on the first day of career week (she was a junior, I was on my first senior year) and the two of us were the only ones in the whole school chosen by a big time computer company to discuss a possible future career with them. It was a big honor, especially since we were the only two in the school that they were trying to recruit—I like to call it fate. Of course, things didn't go smoothly —they never do on the Hellmouth (though that was before I knew about that). During Career Week, there was this crazy policewoman (who I found out later was actually some sort of demon bounty hunter) who pulled a gun on Buffy. While Buffy (Willow's best friend) and Kendra (a friend of Buffy's from out of town) were fighting her, she managed to get out a couple shots before the gun was aimed at Willow (the girl I'd met). I don't know what made me do it, but I jumped in front of her and got a bullet to my arm. I don't regret it for a second, though._

_After that day, Willow and I started to hang out more. We went on a couple dates before she invited me to a surprise party she and Xander (her childhood best friend) were throwing for Buffy. What a surprise party that was. We were all set up—Willow, Xander, Giles (the librarian and the designated group "dad"), Cordy (Xander's girlfriend), Angel (Buffy's boyfriend) and I—and waiting for Ms. Calendar (the computer teacher and Giles's girlfriend) to show up with Buffy. Boy was it a surprise when they did: Buffy came crashing through the wall fighting a vamp. That was the first vamp I had ever seen dusted. Cordy, with her usual tact (and yes, I'm using sarcasm here) just had to pop up and yell surprise. I remember how concerned Willow was about me. She wanted to know if I was okay with everything, if I still wanted to hang out with her. Truth be told, learning that vamps and demons were real actually explained a lot, and I told Willow as much. She was so relieved. After that fateful day, I became an honorary member of the Scooby Gang (that's what Willow and Xander had dubbed our group fighting the forces of the Hellmouth and all that badness). Willow and I grew closer over that year and we began dating. That year I went through some major changes and I was afraid that Willow wouldn't want to be around me once she found out, but I was so wrong. She was nothing but supportive and understanding; I think that's when I first realized I was falling in love with her._

_The end of that year was hard on everyone, but especially on Buffy. A new big bad came to town, with an unfortunate obsession with Buffy, and he targeted all of her friends just to get to her. The worst was when he killed Jenny Calendar, Giles's girlfriend. After that things went from bad to worse. Angelus—the big bad—had teamed up with his insane childe Drusilla and her childe Spike and the three of them were working on some plan to send the world to Hell (literally). Not long after Jenny died, we found out that she had been working on a way to give Angelus back his soul. Willow was determined and took it upon herself to finish what Jenny had started. The first time Willow tried the curse it ended in disaster; it was a trap. They were in the library, which just happened to be where the Hellmouth was, when the vampires attacked. Willow was preparing for the spell and none of them were ready for it. Giles was knocked out, a bookcase fell on top of Willow and she was out too, Xander told Cordy to run (so she did), and Xander got hurt too, but not as badly as Willow or Giles even. Poor Kendra, though—Kendra had first shown up around the time I first actually met Willow and she showed up again with the business of Angelus and Acathala (this stone demon who was a portal to literal Hell-on-earth). Anyway, back to Kendra. Kendra was in the library too while Buffy was out looking for Angelus. It was, of course, a trap, not that she knew it until it was too late. Drusilla, Angelus's insane seer childe, hypnotized Kendra and killed her._

_I came when Xander called and told me Willow was in the hospital unconscious. I was so worried; Xander had called her parents, but they were out of town, as usual. I was by her side the entire time, though. Buffy came by once Willow woke up. She had been accused of Kendra's murder and expelled from school and was now hiding while she went after Angelus. Willow was still determined to do the spell, though. After Buffy left, with Xander following her to help Giles (who had been kidnapped by Drusilla and Angelus), Willow convinced Cordy and I to help her set up for the spell and try again. Trust me; no one can resist Willow's resolve face. She had just woken up; she was so pale and fragile, but I have never met a stronger person. She wanted to do the spell for Buffy. She knew how much Angelus had hurt Buffy and she knew she had to try. Willow began the spell and at first we weren't sure if it was working. Suddenly, it was like raw power was flowing through her. Afterwards, she told me she could feel the power flowing through her, and she knew the spell had worked. That was her first spell ever, her first step into the world of witchcraft. The spell had worked, but it was too little, too late. Angelus had already opened Acathala when the spell hit him and Buffy was forced to kill him to save the world. After that she ran off to LA for several months—her mom had kicked her out after Buffy had told her her biggest secret and she had just killed the love of her life—personally I think she deserved some time off._

_Thus began a new school year. After spending the summer patrolling with Xander, Cordy, and Willow, it was time to go back to school. Of course, I had failed to mention to Willow that I would be returning to repeat my senior year with her. It's like this: I had missed some of my finals while I was helping the Scoobies to save the world and then I kinda didn't go to summer school to make them up. Even though I had to repeat my senior year, it was kind of nice to be able to spend more time with Willow. That year was pretty eventful in and of itself. Buffy came back and got accepted back into Sunnydale High (with some difficulty) and Faith came to town (she kinda did the same thing back in Boston that we did in SunnyD). Things took a turn for the worse one night when Buffy and Faith were out on patrol together. Faith made an honest mistake and couldn't deal with the consequences and began to fall deeper into the darkness. She eventually joined forces with the newest big bad—the Mayor. Graduation Day was certainly a day to remember. You see, the mayor had actually been around for about a hundred years and he was planning on ascending (becoming a full-blooded demon) on graduation day. He had grown quite fond of Faith and she had become like a daughter to him, so when Buffy put her in a coma in the process of trying once again to save the love of her life, he was not a happy camper. During our graduation ceremony, we rallied the entire senior class to fight the Mayor. The principal was eaten, but that wasn't really a big loss (he was, as Cordy so eloquently put it, "a tiny, impotent Nazi with a bug up his butt the size of an emu"). Sadly, not all of our classmates made it that day. The Sunnydale High class of '99 had the lowest mortality rate thanks to its Class Protector, Buffy, but that didn't mean all of us survived the actual graduation ceremony. Buffy was able to lure the demon-snake Mayor into the school by taunting him with Faith's knife. Once he was in the library, Buffy barreled out of there and she and Giles blew up the school. It was the only way to kill the Mayor. Plus it was just kinda cool._

_Buffy's boyfriend left after graduation and Cordy left for LA before too long also. She and Xander had long since broken up and Xander left on a road trip across the US a few weeks after graduation. With the library blown up, Giles was now unemployed—I'm honestly not sure exactly what he did that summer. Willow helped Buffy patrol a lot as well as helping her pick out her classes for UC Sunnydale and I was pretty busy with my band that summer, but I joined them in patrolling as often as I could. That fall, Buffy, Willow, and I all started at UC Sunnydale. Things went well for a while; I lived in a house with my band mates and Buffy's first roommate turned out to be an evil soul-stealing demon. Willow moved in with Buffy after they sent Kathy (Buffy's demon roommate) back to her home dimension and Xander came back a few days after school started; apparently his car had broken down before he ever left California and he had spent the summer working to earn the money to get it repaired. It wasn't too much later that another familiar face showed up in our lives again: Anya. Anya was an ex-vengeance demon who had granted Cordy a wish after Xander cheated on her, but she had lost her power source and had been turned mortal. She had been stuck as a seventeen-year-old and asked Xander to the prom. She had then left before the ascension and she came back because she apparently couldn't get Xander out of her mind. After an awkward start, Xander and Anya began casually dating, secretly hoping to form a relationship of sorts. Earlier that year, Buffy had met Riley, a TA for her Psychology class. They had a strange sort of attraction to each other, but she was still getting over Angel at the time, so she didn't act on that attraction right away._

_It was around this time that I met Veruca. She was the lead singer of another band and from the first time I saw her, there was something that drew me to her. I knew it wasn't love; it was like I recognized something in her that I saw in myself. When I figured out what it was, I tried to help her. Instead, I ended up making the biggest mistake of my life. After that, I tried to get Veruca to leave me alone, but she was convinced that I should be with her, not Willow, so she decided to go after Willow and she nearly killed her. I had to do something, so I stopped Veruca from hurting my Willow. After that, I realized I had to leave; I had to find myself before I could be with Willow. I never wanted to hurt her, but I think leaving her did just that. I spent the next several months traveling around the world, trying to find myself. After I felt I had accomplished my goal, I decided to go back to see Willow and tell her what I had been doing. We spent that whole first night I was back just talking. The next day, I was walking around campus when I came across a new friend of Willow's, a girl named Tara. Somehow I knew that the two of them were close, and I completely lost control. I was so close to hurting her, something I had hoped would never happen again. After that, I got into a spot of trouble and Buffy's new boyfriend Riley had to help me out. Afterwards, I realized that as much as I loved Willow, I couldn't be around her until I was completely in control of myself. I love her so much; all I wanted was for her to be happy. I had to leave again._

_I spent the next three years traveling the world. I found myself in Europe two years ago and—more specifically—England just last year. While I was on my journey of self-discovery, I reopened my search for my birth parents, which led me to the Leaky Cauldron and Kingsley Shacklebolt, which in turn led me to write this letter to you._

_I would love to meet you all, I really would. Unfortunately, that meeting will have to wait a while. I got a letter yesterday from Giles. He told me that Willow is in really bad shape right now. Apparently there was an accident and her girlfriend, Tara, got shot and killed. Willow consequentially got lost in her grief and turned to dark magicks. She killed the man who shot Tara and then she tried to end the world, seeing it as the only way to stop all the pain and suffering. Xander was the one who stopped her. He told her he loved her no matter what, and if the world was going to end there was no place else he would rather be. Somehow he got through to her and she came down from the dark magicks._

_Will's pretty messed up right now. Giles told me that he brought her to a coven in Devon, so I'm headed there to see her. Don't ask me how, but I just know that she needs me right now. I haven't seen her in three years, but I've never stopped loving her; she's always been the only girl for me. All that matters to me is that she's happy, and right now she's not. I can literally feel her pain; it's suffocating. She really loved Tara and I've finally realized I'm okay with that as long as it made her happy. I've got to go and help her in any way I can. I really don't care if she doesn't want me anymore or if she chooses to find someone else to spend her life with, I just need to be there for her in whatever way she needs me to be. As soon as I finish this letter I'm heading out. I don't know how long I'll be gone. I promise to come and meet you guys as soon as I can, but right now Willow is my number one priority._

_TTFN,_

_Oz_

Molly finished reading the letter, folded it up gently and set it on the table in front of her. The entire Weasley family was speechless. Molly and Ginny were blinking back tears; Bill and Charlie were staring blankly at the wall in front of them; Fred and George stared at each other, as if reading each others' minds (which they very well may have been doing—it's a magical twin thing, after all); Arthur had his jaw clenched as if fighting back his own tears; Ron just stared down at his hands; and Percy was furiously polishing his glasses (very Giles-esque).

Bill was the first to break the silence. "The letter really says all of that?"

Molly nodded slowly. "Every single word."

Charlie nodded thoughtfully. "I remember studying about the Hellmouth in my sixth year DADA class. I can't believe my big brother had to live with all of that."

Ron nodded in agreement. "Sounds like he had it pretty tough."

"So, all these years…" said Fred.

"…he's been looking for us too?" finished George. Molly simply nodded.

"He's not the only one," said Arthur. "We never stopped looking either. Auror Chris Potter started the search back in '80 and Aurors James Potter and Kingsley Shacklebolt continued it."

"I can't believe Auror Shacklebolt actually found him after all these years," mused Percy, pompously placing his horn-rimmed glasses back on his nose.

"Oh, it's so romantic," sobbed Ginny. "He loves her _so_ much! That's just so sweet!"

Bill patted his sister's back. "There, there, Gin." He turned to his parents quizzically. "Wait, if I'm older than him, why don't I remember him at all?"

Molly looked at her oldest son sadly, tears in her eyes. "That night," she began, "the night my brothers were killed and Danny went missing, you were there too."

Arthur continued for his wife. "Chris Potter found you in the woods. You had a very bad head wound—we don't really know how you got it. I took you to St. Mungo's right away and they told me that the blow to your head severely damaged your memory—they said that you might not ever remember anything that happened before that day that you finally woke up."

Bill frowned thoughtfully. "Wait—you said I was found in the woods?" Arthur and Molly both nodded. "W-we were staying with Uncle Gid and Uncle Fab that night, me and Danny, weren't we?"

Molly and Arthur both looked up sharply. "Y-you remember?" said Molly in awe.

Bill frowned some more. "It's a bit fuzzy…" he began slowly, "nothing's clear really…I remember hearing something strange outside, then Uncle Fab telling me to take Danny and run…I-I remember running…I-I…I think I found somewhere safe…then I remember wanting to go back, needing to go back…I left him…then I remember seeing the Dark Mark and I tripped over something and fell…then it's all black…"

Arthur frowned thoughtfully at his son. "After all these years…I wonder if maybe the letter triggered your memory…or maybe just talking about him…"

Bill shrugged. "The hell if I know."

"Language, Bill!"

"Sorry Mum."

* * *

**Note Segundo:** I kinda figured since Oz is so stoic & non-wordy that he might express himself better in writing/music, and since he's not there to sing to his family (hehe) he writes up a storm instead. Oh, and the quote of Cordelia's in Oz's letter is actually from BtVS Season 2 Episode 21 "Becoming: Part One."


	11. Chapter 5: Unbreakable Bond

**Note:** Okay, so I've been thinking on the Faith/Xander thing from Season 3 quite a bit...and we're just gonna pretend that the whole sex thing never happened (can you say EWW-I mean, they're totally 1st cousins, even if they don't know that little fact). Faith still tried to kill Xander, but that time w/ the zombies & the Sisters of Jhe (or whatever the hell they were called) they just flirted around & talked a bit. Get it? Got it? Good. I know it's not ideal, but it works out for the best. I mean, come on, these people already have enough psychological issues, they don't need any ones that can be potentially gotten rid of. Okay, and I'm starting to schpeil now...I guess that means it's time to stop. On with the fic!

**Note Number the Second:** Again, I had some wicked awesome fonts for the letters, but they don't show up (of course). Bloody stupid evil technology, messing up my master plans of world domination through cool fonts...wait...

* * *

**Chapter 5: Unbreakable Bond**

_**May 23, 2003**_**:** Alexander "Xander" Harris fidgeted nervously as he ran a large, calloused hand through his messy black-brown hair. With his single chocolate brown eye (he had lost the other back in April in a battle with The First's minion Caleb) he glanced once again at the letter sitting on the bedside table, the letter that had thrown him for a loop and completely turned his world upside down.

Sighing deeply, Xander picked up the letter and held it clenched in his fists. Here it was, the thing he'd been missing all these years, and yet…he was afraid he'd just get disappointed again. Unconsciously, he opened the letter again and before he knew it, he was once again reading the now familiar words:

_Dearest Alexander,_

_After twenty-two years I have finally found out the truth. Yesterday I received a strange letter through the post, informing me that my husband's cousin Jessica Lavelle Harris and her husband Anthony Harris had died. I did not understand why my husband and I were the ones receiving this news until I came to the bottom of the letter. Apparently in his will, Anthony Harris had confessed to kidnapping a two-day-old baby boy back in 1981 and raising him as his own son without ever telling his wife how he had truly acquired the child. It was then that I knew. You see, in 1981 my son went missing. Anthony's claim piqued my curiosity. If I had any doubts they were immediately quelled when I found included in the envelope an adoption certificate for one Alexander Sirius Tonks and a document recording that his name had legally been changed to Alexander Lavelle Harris._

_I hope that you will consider coming to meet your family. Your father and I never wanted to lose you; it was purely coincidence that Mr. Harris was able to spirit you away from us that fateful night. If you would consent to meet with us, I would be eternally grateful. Please respond as soon as possible. I hope to meet you soon, Alexander._

_All my love,_

_Your mother Andromeda Tonks_

Xander set the letter down again and sighed. It had been two days since he had arrived in England, two days since he had received the letter and learned the truth about his parents. If he was completely honest with himself he was quite happy to find out that the drunks who had raised him weren't his biological parents. However, it also brought up painful memories of his almost-wedding to Anya, when he left her because he'd been afraid he'd turn out just like Tony Harris. Thinking too much about Anya still hurt; she had died in the final battle with The First just a mere three days ago, just when they had started to re-form their relationship.

Xander groaned and got up from the bed he had been sitting on. Walking over to the small desk under the equally small window he sat down and pulled out a pen and some paper. He supposed now was as good a time as any to respond to Andromeda—his _mother_.

**XXXX**

_**May 27, 2003**_**:** "Any response yet, Teddy?"

Ted Tonks sighed and closed his chocolate eyes (so like his lost son's), praying for patience. "The muggle post hasn't come yet today, Dromeda," he said tiredly.

"Oh, right." Andromeda flopped gracefully onto the baby-blue couch, her silky, waist-length black hair flowing around her as she did so. Ted couldn't help but smile at her; to him, she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

Seeing her husband's "yummy" (her exact words) chocolate brown eyes on her, her own deep blue eyes sparkled with mischief. "Are you trying to distract me from my latest obsession Mr. Tonks?" she teased playfully.

Ted raised his dark eyebrow at his wife and smiled mischievously back at her. "Why, I do believe I am, Mrs. Tonks."

Andromeda smirked playfully and glided gracefully over to her husband. "And just how do you propose to do that, Mr. Tonks?" she said, sitting herself on Ted's lap and running her fingers through his short, mousy brown hair.

Ted clamped his hands around her waist and smiled up at her. "Well, I—"

"Wotcher parentals!" came a cheerful cry from the entry hall. Andromeda and Ted groaned simultaneously as their daughter (currently sporting a cherry red bob and cerulean eyes) waltzed into the room, predictably tripping over her own two feet and falling to the ground.

"Hullo Dora," said Ted, smiling half-heartedly at his daughter sprawled out on the sitting room floor.

Pulling herself up, Dora Tonks smiled cheekily at her father and raised her eyebrow mischievously. "Not interrupting anything, am I?"

Andromeda groaned and buried her face in her husband's shirt. "You bloody well did this on purpose, didn't you Nymphadora?" she groaned at her daughter.

Nymphadora just smiled at her mother and replied, "Wouldn't you like to know?" Andromeda shot her a vicious glare. "Okay, okay. It was just a coincidence, honest. I just thought I'd come visit."

"It's been a while, Dora," said Ted, raising an eyebrow at his daughter. "Any reason in particular you are honoring us with your presence today?"

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Can't a daughter visit her parents just 'cause?"

"No," said Andromeda simply. "Not when _you_ are the daughter in question anyway."

"Maybe I just wanted to visit my favorite little sister," said Tonks.

"Anaxandra's over at the Chosens' house," said Andromeda sternly. "Try again."

Tonks sighed. "Alright, so I had a fight with Nick and we broke up, okay? Happy now?"

"Exceedingly so," replied Ted. "Never liked that chap."

Tonks sighed and her hair morphed into a wave of gold that went down to her elbows. "You were right, okay? The guy was a no good scumbag who only wanted one thing from me. Happy now?"

Andromeda got up from Ted's lap and went over to hug her daughter. "How can we be happy when our baby girl is hurting?" she said, hugging her now spiky purple-haired daughter tight.

"He was just using me Mum," she whispered into Andromeda's shoulder. "How could I have been so bloody stupid?!"

"Shh, shh—it's okay, baby, Mummy's here." Andromeda let Dora cry on her shoulder until she had let it all out.

Sniffling a bit, Tonks let go of her mother and wiped her eyes dry and morphing her hair to her natural mousy brown. "Thanks Mum," she said. "I think I'll just go get myself a snack now, if you don't mind."

"The ice cream's hiding in the back of the freezer," said Andromeda, smiling at her daughter. "I had to stick it where Anaxandra couldn't reach it."

"Thanks Mum," said Tonks. "Oh, and I left the post on the table in the front hall."

Barely restraining herself as Tonks left the room, Andromeda practically shot out of the room and down the hall, frantically searching through the mail. Finally she found what she was looking for. Grabbing the single envelope, she rushed back into the living room where Ted was now busy reading _The Daily Prophet_. "It came," she cried happily to her husband. "He wrote back!"

Ted looked up from his paper and smiled at the beautiful ebony-haired woman standing in front of him, her face aglow with happiness. "Well, don't just stare at it, Dromeda. Read it already."

Hands shaking with excitement, Andromeda sat down on the couch and opened the letter. Unfolding the paper inside she began to read:

_Andromeda Tonks-_

_Well, I have to say I was completely shocked to get your letter. I mean, I knew that Tony and Jessica never made it out of Sunnydale, but this was something else entirely. Can't say I'm disappointed exactly. Tony and Jessica were never great parents, just a couple of drunks who happened to have a kid. I don't mean to offend you or anything, but I don't really know you, so I hope you don't mind if I don't call you mom just yet. Sorry I took my time getting back to you, but this was—still is—a lot to process. I would like to meet you though. How's this Friday sound? Just send me the when and where and I'll be there._

_-Xander Harris_

_P.S.~ I'm staying at a friend's flat in Bath for the time being. Feel free to call anytime—just look up Rupert Giles._

Andromeda looked up at Ted after finishing the letter, her eyes wide and a huge grin on her face. "Teddy," she said happily, jumping up from the sofa, "he wants to meet us! Our baby boy wants to meet us!"

Ted smiled just as widely as his wife as he set his paper down. "When?" was the first question that popped out of his mouth.

"Friday—_this_ Friday. He said just to let him know where and when."

"That's wonderful, Dromeda!" cried Ted happily, jumping up and hugging his wife. "We're going to meet our son!"

The couple heard a large THUNK and whirled around to see Tonks once again on the floor. "S-son?" she gasped as she pulled herself up off the floor. "I-I have a _brother_?"

"Dora, honey," said her father, walking over to the ginger-haired witch and holding her steady. "Why don't you sit down? You're mother and I have a _lot_ of explaining to do."

"Damn right you do," muttered Tonks as she let her father lead her over to the sofa, her eyes flashing to a dangerous amber and her hair morphing so much from her current emotional turmoil that she looked like a giant walking rainbow.

**XXXX**

"So, let me get this straight," said Tonks slowly as her parents finished explaining the situation to her. "Not only do I have a brother, but I have a _twin_ brother who was kidnapped when we were only a couple of days old and was raised by dad's crazy drunken cousins in the States."

"And we're meeting him on Friday," added Andromeda happily.

"Right. I think I need to sit down."

"You are sitting down, Nymphadora."

"Oh. Bloody brilliant of me, really."

"Nymphadora, darling, I know this is a lot to take in, but—"

"No, Mum, this actually explains a couple of questions I've had over the years."

"Really?" asked Ted curiously. "And what might those questions be?"

"Well, I did always wonder why it felt like a part of me was missing, you know. The twin thing explains that," her parents shot her inquisitive glances, so she elaborated. "Summer after my third year, I went to Charlie's, remember? Well, he has twin brothers and we were trying to figure out exactly why they seemed to almost read each other's minds and we came across this book that explained how magical twins have a sort of innate magical connection, allowing them to share emotions and thoughts and even communicate telepathically."

Andromeda quirked her eyebrow at her only daughter. "I didn't realize you were so interested in the subject," she said, suppressing a smile.

Tonks's face turned red and her hair changed to her favorite bubble-gum pink spikes. "Yeah, well, like I said, I always felt like something was missing. I guess it was just my subconscious trying to make up for that."

Ted looked thoughtfully at his daughter. "You said there was more than one thing," he said quietly.

Tonks nodded, her hair morphing into a sheet of pure silver. "There have been times…sometimes I get this feeling like part of me is in pain or really sad or sometimes really happy. The thing is, most of the time nothing's happening to me." Tonks paused for a moment then continued. "The worst yet was last month—I swear I couldn't see straight for a week afterwards, and I do mean that literally. Then seven days ago—Mum, I swear my heart was breaking into a million pieces. I wasn't sure I could go on…it _still_ hurts, Mum, and I don't know why."

Ted and Andromeda looked at each other. "Sweet Merlin," breathed Andromeda, "you still have the twin bond."

"That's the only logical explanation," mused Ted.

Tonks scoffed. "C'mon Dad, since when is anything in our world logical?" she said, purposefully morphing herself to look like her mother.

Andromeda frowned and Ted gave a small smile. "Point taken, Dora," he conceded.

Tonks, finally getting control of her haywire emotions, morphed back to her normal heart-shaped face and delicate (very _Black_) features, giving herself amethyst colored eyes and long, curly aquamarine hair. "So," she chirped, anxious to change the subject, "when are we inviting this long-lost brother of mine over so I can actually meet him? Oh, and who's telling Andra?"

* * *

**If you're confused about who Andra is, you'll find out very soon. And may live to regret it (she _is_ rather insane, after all)...**


	12. Chapter 6: Reunited

**NOTE DE STEVE: **Got your attention? Well, It's come to my brain (which is shared with LunarPhoenix13 and is currently buried somewhere in the Caribbean) that a rather important character in this story has yet to be introduced...It all started one Easter day when my younger sister and I were bored waiting for our guests to arrive. So we thought, what would happen if Bellatrix had a child with Voldemort? Intriguing, yes? So what if it's been done before; trust me, you've never seen anything like this girl before. Anaxandra Juliet Black-Tonks is a strange bird. She's extremely insane (but in a good way), horribly childish (even once she has children of her own), has the attention span of an ADD squirrel on a caffeine high, and has a strange obsession with seacreatures (especially turtles) and the name Steve. Sound interesting? Well, you're about to get your first taste of her. She's really more of my sister's creation than mine; I just helped her come up with the idea and the name, the rest is history. If you find yourself liking Andra or you simply want to find out more about her, check out my sister's profile (penname: balai).

**P.S.~** I had a really cool image in the middle of a word here, but of COURSE it didn't show up, so ya'll have to deal with second best, sorry (though it probably bothers me more than you...).

**Disclaimer: If you recognize something here, chances are I don't own it! (ie Dora the Explorer, Iceman, that song from The Year Without a Santa Claus, etc...)**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Reunited**

_**May 30, 2003**_**:** Xander had been out with Willow helping her drown her guilt after breaking up with Kennedy (Xander had never really liked the bratty slayer much, but he hadn't wanted to hurt Willow's feelings by saying anything of the sort) when Andromeda had called. He didn't hear the message until the next morning, in fact, when he woke up with a major hangover. It took him nearly half and hour and about ten cups of coffee to finally realize that he had less than twenty-four hours to mentally prepare himself to meet with his birth family.

The first thing he had done upon sobering up enough to realize this was call Willow, frantically begging her to come over. Ten minutes later the frazzled redheaded witch had arrived, looking just as crappy as he himself felt. Ushering Willow over to the couch, Xander made her sit and shoved an extra-large cup of coffee at her. He was practically vibrating with nervousness (or it could have just been the ten cups of caffeine he had just ingested) as he waited for Willow to finish. As soon as she was slightly less hung-over, Xander proceeded to tell her everything: the letter, the fact that he was adopted, and the fact that his birth parents wanted to meet him in less than twenty-four hours.

That had been twenty-three hours ago. After a painfully long pep-talk in which Willow tried to convince Xander that this was the opportunity of a lifetime for him, he finally ran out of excuses, at which point Willow used her infamous resolve-face on him, resulting in him standing at the door of a buttercup-yellow country home just outside of Bristol, straightening the non-existent wrinkles out of his dark blue button-down shirt and fiddling nervously with the eye patch over the remains of his left eye (it was beginning to become a bit of a compulsory action to him now, messing with his eye patch). Xander glanced down at his watch: it was time. No more delaying the inevitable. No more—

Xander's train of thought was interrupted suddenly when the door was jerked open, revealing a young woman with a heart-shaped face, short, straight, mousey-brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, cool gray eyes, and delicate yet aristocratic features. The strange woman stared at him, seemingly assessing him. Xander fidgeted slightly, but that did not deter him from observing this woman further. She was a good three inches shorter than his five foot eleven inches and she was wearing green army-print cargo pants, a fluorescent orange crop-top t-shirt with the words "WARNING: Major Klutz" in big neon green block letters on it, and heavy black combat boots. He also noticed that she had three piercings in each of her ears, plus one in her right cartridge; he observed that she had her nose and her bellybutton pierced as well.

Catching his eye, the woman suddenly grinned at him. "You must be Alexander," she said cheerfully.

Xander gave a nervous smile. "Call me Xander," he said. "Sorry I don't know who you are—I'm assuming you're not Andromeda, but that's just 'cause you don't look old enough to have a son my age. I mean, I could be wrong here and I don't want to assume anything, cause you know what they say about assuming—you make an ass out of me or something like that. Hehe." He cleared his throat nervously. "So anyway, I'm guessing you're not Andromeda and I'm probably making a great big fool of myself babbling here, so hey, I'm Xander not-Andromeda." Xander smiled nervously at the pretty young woman as his babbling came to an end.

The woman smiled brightly at him and for some strange reason he felt inexplicably drawn to her. "You're right on that," she said brightly. "I'm _not_ Andromeda—I'm her daughter Nymphadora," she gave a sour look and Xander couldn't help but smile, "but please call me Tonks. Oh, and don't worry about the babbling; I'll leave that out of the official repot," she added, winking cheekily at him.

The tension eased somewhat, Xander held out his hand to her. "Thanks for that—wouldn't want to make a bad first impression. Like I am here. Nice to meet you Tonks."

Tonks smiled at him. "Back atcha, Xander," she said. "And don't worry; you're not making a bad impression—I'm a very impressionable person. And I just realized that made no bloody sense whatsoever. Oh bollocks. See, I babble too. Don't worry about it."

"Good to know. Nice shirt, by the way," he added nervously, grasping for straws.

"Thanks," said Tonks, glancing down at her shirt and smiling at Xander. "Sadly, it's very true."

Xander chuckled lightly. "I can kinda relate."

Tonks smiled brightly at him. "C'mon in, Xander; Andra and the parentals are dying to meet you. Mum hasn't shut up about you since she got your letter."

Xander was shocked. "Really?"

Tonks rolled her eyes as she ushered Xander into the house. "It's been all she can talk about for the past bloody week practically."

Xander shifted nervously as he followed Tonks down the hall. "So…you're my sister then?" he said, trying to alleviate the nervous silence.

"Twin, actually," said Tonks cheerfully. Glancing back at Xander's shocked face, she added, "Don't worry about it; they only told me about you three days ago."

"Well, that makes me feel a little less out of the loop then," he said with a lopsided smile.

"It was quite a shocker for me," said Tonks, chattering on, sensing that silence would just make Xander even more nervous. "I mean, I just came over to visit, and suddenly I overhear Mum and Dad talking about their son. Then it was all 'Nymphadora, darling, I'm dreadfully sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but you have a twin brother.' And then Dad decided to pipe in, of course, and he's like 'Dora, we meant to tell you before, but we just didn't know how.' Then Mum chimes in with 'by the way, he's coming for lunch on Friday.' Bit of a lot for a girl to process on short notice. How'd you handle it, then?"

Xander smiled. "The letter, I just kinda brooded a while on that, but the phone call…well, I was kinda hung-over when I got the message. Took me ten cups of coffee to process it, then I freaked out and called up my bestest buddy and told her she had to come over. Of course she was hung-over too, so I had to wait for her to sober up, then she had to spend the next twenty-two hours trying to calm me down."

Tonks laughed. "Sounds like fun."

"Yeah, buckets of giggles," said Xander. "So, who's this Andra you mentioned earlier anyway?"

"Wot's that now?"

"Earlier. You said that 'Andra and the parentals' were dying to meet me. Who's Andra?"

"Andra? Well she's…special? Complicated? I think I'm gonna go with special here. On a bad day, I'd probably say completely nutters, but I'm sticking with 'special' today."

"Uh…Okay?"

Tonks sighed. "The simple explanation is that she's our cousin, the daughter of Mum's older sister," she explained. "The more complicated explanation is that Andra has been with us since she was about a week old. She's more like a little sister to me than anything else. In fact, Mum and Dad actually adopted her when she was about two years old."

"Oh. Guess that makes sense."

"Well, we're here," said Tonks, stopping suddenly. "You ready?"

Xander grimaced, fidgeting with his eye patch. "If I say hell no and run screaming like a girl, will you think any less of me?"

Tonks giggled. "Of course I will," she joked. "It won't be that bad, I promise. Mum and Dad are very nice people actually. Andra can be a bit scary if you're not used to her 'specialness,' but she's harmless, I promise. Now, let's go." With that she linked arms with Xander and pushed open the parlor door.

This was it, Xander realized. He was going to meet his real parents. Looking curiously around the room, the first thing he noticed was how clean it was—nearly spotless, really. The second thing he noticed was the woman sitting primly on the lavender armchair, her long ebony hair flowing freely down her back. _This must be my mother_, he realized, gulping for breath. She was beautiful—a bit intimidating, true, but still beautiful.

Xander didn't realize he was staring at first. Suddenly the woman—his mother—looked up and her deep blue eyes locked onto his single brown one. Then she smiled at him. Standing up gracefully, her every move as fluid as liquid silk, she walked over to the newly-reunited twins. "Hello," she said, her voice soft and regal, "you must be Alexander. My name is Andromeda Tonks—I'm your mother."

"H-hi," said Xander nervously. "That's me. I-I mean, me's Xander, uh, Xander is me, that is—"

"Mum, Dad," interrupted Tonks cheerfully, sensing her twins' nervousness, "I'd like you to meet Xander. Xander, meet Ted and Andromeda Tonks. I personally like to call them Mum and Dad," she added playfully.

For the first time Xander noticed the man in the room. Tall, though a couple of inches shorter than his wife, with short, mousy brown hair and the same chocolate brown eyes as his son, Ted's smile as he stood and crossed the room was enough to put Xander at ease. "Hello Xander," said Ted, sticking out his hand for him to shake. "I'm Ted. You can call me Dad if you feel like it, but I'll understand if you don't want to."

Grinning, Xander shook his father's hand. "Nice to meet you, Ted. Maybe we'll just take things slow, see where it goes from here." Ted nodded in agreement. The next thing Xander knew, he was being attacked by a sobbing black-haired woman. "There, there," he said, patting Andromeda's back awkwardly.

Composing herself, Andromeda pulled herself off of her son. "I'm terribly sorry about that, Alexander, it's just that I've waited so long to find you. I'd almost given up hope of ever seeing you again…" Andromeda turned from the one-eyed man and buried her face in her husband's shoulder.

"It's alright; I don't mind," said Xander awkwardly, giving Andromeda his goofiest smile. "It's not everyday gorgeous women throw themselves all over me, even if I _am_ related to them."

Tonks snickered, Ted smiled, and Andromeda lifted her head off of her husband's shoulder, drying her eyes. "Thank you for that, Alexander. Nymphadora, please show Alexander around a bit while I finish putting our lunch together."

"Ta Mum," replied Dora, saluting cheekily. "Sound good to you, Xander?"

Xander shrugged in response and followed Dora out of the room. "It's Xander, by the way. Just Xander," he called back to his parents.

Tonks chuckled and grabbed her brother's arm. "Good luck with that, mate. Mum's got a thing for given names—she insists on calling me Nymphadora, no matter how many times I ask her not to."

Xander chuckled. "What about Da—er, Ted?"

"Oh, he's cool. He calls me Dora."

"Dora. I like that. Do you mind…?"

"Why not? We _are_ twins after all. And it is kinda weird to be calling me by _our_ last name."

"Yeah, that is weird."

"Bloody right, you are."

Xander grinned and threw his arm around Dora's shoulder. "You and me, we're gonna get along just great," he said as the reunited twins headed off down the hall together.

**XXXX**

"…and here we have the upper floor," said Dora, leading Xander up the stairs. "Up here we have Mum and Dad's room, my room, the guest room, our old playroom-turned-gameroom, the loo, and…_Andra's room_." Dora shuddered in horror at the last.

"That bad, huh?" said Xander knowingly.

"_Worse_," said Tonks, gently grabbing Xander's head and turning it to face a bright, lime-green monstrosity of a door with a large gold star engraved with 'THIS IS A ST*R' and a gold placard that read 'Anaxandra' (with the 'Anax' part crossed out). "And that's just her door," Dora said gravely.

"Oh God," said Xander, looking at the door in horror.

"Don't worry," said Dora, pulling Xander over to the door, "the inside's much worse." That said, Dora grabbed the handle and swiftly pushed the door open.

If Andra's door horrified Xander, it was _NOTHING_ compared to what was inside the room. Andra's room was every fashion-conscious, or indeed even every non-visually impaired, person's worst nightmare. The walls of the room were painted a vivid orange and covered with large and small yellow and black buzzing bumblebees and her carpet was a sort of burnt orange that clashed horribly with the walls. A large four-poster bed covered in neon, lime green sheets covered with a vivid salmon-colored giant squid sat underneath the large window and an entire wall was devoted to a rather large aquarium filled with a variety of fish and other sea creatures. The third wall played host to an aquamarine door covered with yellow caution tape that Xander assumed to be the closet. And in the middle of the room, lying stomach down on rug that looked like an aquarium (Xander could have sworn the water and the fish were moving), swinging her mismatched-socked feet (one was a neon orange fishnet stocking and the other sported lines of horses doing the can-can in matching dresses) in the air, was a small girl whose short, messy raven hair seemed to defy gravity at every angle.

Xander was startled out of his observations when the humming that had been present since the door opened suddenly turned to outright singing. "Here comes Bobby, here comes Bobby, right down Gecko Lane. Thinks he's spitting lots of ice, but always spitting flames. Something, something, something, something…all is merry and bright. So cover your head, fireproof your bed, 'cause Bobby comes tonight." Once the tiny girl had finished singing, she continued right on humming her song, all the while drawing on something in her hands with a shiny silver marker.

"Andra," called Tonks.

Andra attempted to jump up, screeching, "DOOOOOOORAAA!," but all she managed was to trip over her own two feet and land flat on her bum back onto her strange rug, clutching some sort of blue-and-silver lizard to her chest. "Sorry Lord Cuichette the Splashiful!" she whispered loudly to (it appeared) her rug. "Doot-Do-Doot-Doot-Doot-Dora, Doot-Do-Doot-Doot-Doot-Dora! You're home!" She proceeded to sing merrily, all the while still sitting sprawled out on the floor, holding her lizard tight to her chest (poor thing was starting to suffocate). "Señor Goldfish released you! Be free chickadee! Fly home to the magical mountains of candy joy and sparklyness!"

Dora laughed merrily. "Hello to you too, 'Booths,'" she said, ignoring Andra's strangeness. "I have someone special here I'd like you to meet."

Andra giggled. "I'm norra Booths, Do-ra. I'm a turtle, silly."

"Of course, how silly of me. Now, would you like to meet my special friend?"

Andra wrinkled her small nose delicately. "Is it a special friend like Nick or Jason or Galahad or Charlie or—"

"I get it Andra," Dora interrupted the small raven-haired child, blushing slightly. "No, this is a different kind of special friend. _Very_ different."

"What kinda special friend, then, Do-ra? Is it a special friend like Steve or Cheese or Bobby or Oscar or Hark or Mo or—"

"This is Xander, Andra," said Dora, interrupting Andra's tirade, pulling Xander forward by the arm and presenting him to the small girl who was still sitting, sprawled on her bum, on the ground. "He's my twin brother."

Andra wrinkled her nose and her forehead in confusion. "Like Gred-and-Forge and Mary-and-Harry?"

"Yes, like them."

Andra looked completely confused. "But you don't _have_ a twin, Do-ra. There's only one of you. You're the only Tiggery mousey-pup."

"Yes, well, I only found out about Xander very recently. Mum and Dad never told me about him."

Andra gasped. "Mumandi and Teddy-dad never told you you were Xan-der-and-Do-ra not just-Do-ra?"

"That's right," said Dora, pulling Andra up gently by her armpits (she was still tightly clutching her strange lizard to her chest, poor thing). "A long time ago, a bad man took Xander away from us and it made Mum and Dad so sad that they never talked about him anymore."

Xander "oofed" as he was nearly bowled over by the overenthusiastic bundle that was Andra. She clutched his hips tightly in a hug (Bobby the lizard had been flung across the room in her scatter-brained, spur-of-the-moment hug-fest). "I'm so sorry Xan-der!" she cried. "I'm glad you're Xan-der-and Do-ra not just-Do-ra! Don't go away again, I love you! The gurglewats don't like it when you leave me! You can be my brother if you want to! I've always wanted a big brother. Or a little brother. Or a puppy. But Mumandi says I can't have a puppy and when I ask for a little brother Mumandi just goes all white like the chizzywack on El Grampador's head and Teddy-dad starts laughing and turning red as tommy's toes."

"Uh, thanks kid," said Xander, patting Andra's head and feeling very lost and confused.

"Just go with it, Xan," Dora whispered in his ear. "She's Andra the Strange."

**XXXX**

Lunch wasn't going all that bad, in Xander's opinion. He was a bit confused at first when Andra was sent out to visit a friend for the afternoon, but once Dora explained to him just how impossible it was to have anything resembling a serious conversation with Andra around, he understood. So it was himself, Ted, Andromeda, and Dora sitting together around an elegant yet simple table enjoying conversation and a meal. Ted and Andromeda told Xander about how they had met in school and how they had gotten married after they had found out Andromeda was pregnant. Seeing the two together, Xander could tell that the pregnancy hadn't been the only reason for their marriage, though. They then proceeded to explain how Andromeda had only been fifteen and Ted eighteen when the twins had been born and they explained how Tony Harris had somehow managed to kidnap him (Xander) from Ted's parents' house only two days after his birth.

Xander was thinking deeply, wondering whether he was ready to accept Ted and Andromeda enough to call them his parents (he and Dora had already bonded and both now felt more whole than either could ever remember). He was slightly surprised, yet at the same time pleased, that not a one of them had asked anything about his eye patch; he wasn't quite sure if he was ready to relive that particular memory just yet. And then there was the matter of the supernatural: Should he explain that to his parents and Dora? Would they just think he was completely insane and decide they wanted nothing to do with him?

Xander was saved from having to answer his own questions when Dora spoke. "Mum," she said, her face dead serious, "I think we should tell him now."

Ted and Andromeda looked at each other then at Dora and Xander. "I think you may be right, Nymphadora, dear," said Andromeda solemnly.

"Tell me what?" asked Xander quizzically. "It's not something bad is it? Cause I've had enough bad news in the past couple months to last me a lifetime or two, thank you _very_ much."

Andromeda smiled at him knowingly. "Alexander, dear, what do you know about magic?"

Xander started. Could it be possible that they already knew? "Quite a bit, actually," he stated matter-of-factly.

Ted grinned widely. Xander couldn't help but notice that it was the same smile that Dora was currently wearing on her face. "Son," he said happily, "have you ever heard of the wizarding world?"

Xander started, dropping his fork. "There's a world of wizards?" he said, a smile creeping across his face. "Wait till Will hears about this; she'll go nuts! Why do you ask?"

"Well," stated Nymphadora, grinning cheekily at her brother, "our family is a part of that world. Mum, Andra, and I are witches and you and Dad are wizards."

Xander's face fell a bit. "I'm no wizard," he said grumpily.

"Dear," said Andromeda soothingly, "have you ever made something happen, something that you couldn't explain?"

Xander thought about it a moment. There had been several times he had wondered, especially since meeting Buffy, but he had never considered—"You're serious about this aren't you?" he said.

His parents nodded. "You would have attended school with Nymphadora had you been with us," said Andromeda. "We received your letter at the same time that Nymphadora's came, but unfortunately we were unable to find you to give it to you."

"Wait, what school are you talking about? What letter?"

Dora grinned. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, of course. If you are accepted, you receive your letter after your eleventh birthday."

"So," said Xander slowly, "you're saying that I could have gone to a magic school?" Ted and Andromeda nodded and Dora grinned happily. "Man, now I know why I hated high school so much!" he joked.

Dora laughed. "C'mon, muggle school can't have been _that_ bad," she said teasingly.

Xander rolled his eye. "Well, if you don't count the animal possession, psycho-invisible girls, multiple vampire attacks, principals—as in more than one—being eaten, blowing up the school on graduation day, and many other weird things—oh, like a substitute teacher who was actually a giant preying mantis or the swim team turning into weird fish monsters —yeah it was just peachy. And what's that muggle thing anyway?"

"Muggles are non-magical people," said Dora, waving him off. "What's all this about possession and preying mantises?"

Xander smiled cheekily. "Oh, that's just your standard day in good ole' Sunnyhell."

"Sunnyhell?" asked Ted, furrowing his brow.

"Sunnydale, California," clarified Xander. "It's where I grew up. Oh, yeah, and it was a Hellmouth."

"Was?" asked Dora curiously.

Xander's mood suddenly darkened. "It's gone now. Just a big sinkhole in the middle of nowhere."

"I remember reading something about that in _The Prophet_ last week," said Ted slowly. "You were there, weren't you?"

Xander nodded sharply. "The last bus out. Not all of us made it, though…" He fell into silence at the thought of his recently-deceased ex-fiancée.

Dora put a comforting hand on his arm. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," she said softly.

He gave her a small smile of thanks. "It's just too soon," he said quietly.

Dora nodded. "So, what do you do, Xander?" she asked, changing the subject.

Xander brightened at this. "I'm a carpenter," he said proudly, "and a damn good one at that. I was in charge of the reconstruction of Sunnydale High last year."

His parents smiled brightly at him. "That's wonderful, son," said Ted proudly. "Do you enjoy it, then?"

"Absolutely," Xander replied. "It took me a while to figure out that's what I wanted to do, but once I started, it was just so _right_."

"As long as you're happy," said Andromeda regally, "that's all that matters."

Xander smiled at her. "Thanks," he said. "So what about you, Dora? What do you do?"

Dora grinned. "I'm an auror, a dark wizard catcher. I'm the youngest in a century, actually."

"But she's still damn good at her job," said Ted proudly.

"Thanks Dad," she said happily. "I got top marks in concealment and disguise, but I nearly failed stealth and tracking—I'm dead clumsy, you know."

Xander laughed. "I know the feeling. At least you're good at the disguise thing, though."

"Hell yeah," said Dora, suddenly morphing her hair to her favorite bubble-gum pink spikes.

Xander blinked and gave a small yelp. "Holy macaroni and cheese! Was that magic?"

Dora smiled. "Sorta. I'm a metamorphmagus, actually."

"A meta what?"

"I can change my appearance at will—it's really rare, even in the magical world. Comes in handy though, let me tell you."

"I can imagine," said Xander, smiling. "That's pretty neat." He suddenly had a thought. "Wait, does that mean—?"

Andromeda shook her head. "No, Alexander, you are _not_ a metamorphmagus."

"Phew! Don't know if I could handle that on top of everything else," he said teasingly. "Nothing against you, sis."

Dora's smile suddenly went even wider. "You called me sis!" she exclaimed happily.

Xander started, then slowly smiled. "Yeah, I guess I did. It just sorta feels…"

"…right. I feel it too."

"So it's a twin thing, then?"

"Pretty much."

"Cool."

Ted suddenly cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt your twin thing, but I do have to be back at work in an hour."

"Right, sorry Dad," said Dora.

"It's alright," said Ted. "Xander, you already knew about magic, right?" Xander nodded. "When did you—"

"When I was fifteen," replied Xander. "It all started when this new girl showed up at school…"

**XXXX**

An hour later Dora was accompanying Xander back to his flat. The small family had spent their time together listening to Xander talk about his adventures in Sunnydale with his friends. He even told them that his best friend was a witch, though he didn't mention that his other best friend was the Slayer—it wasn't his secret to tell, after all. Luckily the topic of his missing eye hadn't come up and neither had the destruction of Sunnydale. It was all still too fresh in his mind and he didn't want to talk about it yet.

"So," said Xander as they reached the door to his flat, "this is where I live." He paused. "You wanna come in?"

The pink haired witch who was his twin sister smiled. "That'd be great," she replied.

Unlocking the door, Xander led her inside. "Welcome to my humble abode," he said jokingly. "I know it's not much, but it's really just temporary. I'm renting it from Giles—one of my friends."

"The librarian, right?" said Dora, looking around the apartment. "It's actually kinda nice," she said. "It's a bit like my place."

"You don't live with Andromeda and Ted, then?" said Xander, walking into the small kitchen and pulling out two beers, offering one to his sister.

Taking the offered drink, Dora sat down at the table and replied, "Nope. Got my own flat in London—closer to work and all. It's not much, but it works for me."

Xander joined her at the table. "So…you like your job?"

Dora paused. This was her twin; if she couldn't be honest with him then who could she talk to? "It's not what I expected," she replied carefully. "It's a whole lot of paperwork and not so much with the catching of dark wizards."

"Paperwork sucks, huh?" said Xander, taking a drink. "I know the feeling."

Dora sighed. "It's not just that either. Things have been…pretty tense lately. There's—well, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been out of the picture for thirteen years, but now…there's some rumors floating around…"

"And you're not sure what to believe, right?"

Dora nodded. "It's just so frustrating. The Minister is saying he's not, but Dumbledore says he is. Back, that is."

Xander paused for a second. "This Dumbledore guy…who is he?"

"He's the headmaster of Hogwarts and one of the most powerful wizards out there. He's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of."

"And you trust him, right?"

Dora suddenly smiled, realizing what Xander was doing. "You're good at that, you know."

"Good at what?"

"Reading people. You see things that others might miss."

Xander's face suddenly fell. "Yeah, that's what _HE_ said before _HE_ poked my eye out," he said darkly.

"Xander, I'm sorry—I didn't mean—"

"I know," he said, heaving a sigh. "It's just…it only happened last month."

"How?"

"Crazy evil preacher guy, working for the big bad, decided since I was the 'One Who Sees' he should take that away. Would've taken both my eyes if Buffy hadn't been there."

The twins fell into silence for a moment. Dora held Xander's hand in her own and gave it a squeeze. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Xander gave a small smile. "Don't be, but thanks."

* * *

**End Note: **So the awesome yellow star I had in the word star on the door of Andra's room didn't show up. *poutsandsulks* Oh well, I'll get over it...someday...maybe...

**~Reviews are much appreciated (they make the voices in my head oh-so happy! ;))- No Flames Please!**


	13. Chapter 7: The Godfather

**A Note! A Note!: YAY new chapter time! :) One of these days I'll finish posting all the chapters I have written for this fic...**

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Godfather**

_**June 4, 2003**_**:** "_TONKS!_"

Dora jolted up from her desk, her bright green curls morphing into ginger spikes as she did so. "Wotcher!" she called sheepishly, looking up to see Kingsley Shacklebolt staring angrily at her.

"Tonks," the large black auror said irritably, "I've been calling you for the last five minutes!"

"Sorry, King," she said, stifling a yawn. "I was out late last night."

"Again?" said Kingsley, raising his eyebrow at the young auror. "What have you been up to lately?"

"Well," said Tonks, unable to suppress her grin, "let's just say I ran into an old friend and we've been busy catching up."

Kingsley heaved a sigh. "Tonks," he said, "if you continue to let your personal life affect your performance at work, I'll have to report you to Scrimgeour. Now, I don't want to have to do that, but if you can't shape up I may very well have no choice _but_ to do so."

"I understand, sir," said Tonks tonelessly.

Kingsley, who secretly had a soft spot for the young auror who reminded him a bit of himself at that age, sighed and sat down opposite her. "Look, Tonks, I know you hate all this paperwork, but its part of the job."

Tonks sighed, frustrated. "It's just, this isn't what I expected when I decided to become an auror," she confessed. "And I thought things might be different now, but with Fudge being an idiot about You-Know-Who—oh shit, sorry sir," she said suddenly, realizing what she had been saying. "I didn't mean to say that, it's just—"

Kingsley waved her off and quickly cast a silencing charm around her cubicle. "I take it you're not too pleased with Fudge right now?" he said, his dark face impassive.

Tonks looked him in the eye, deciding it was worth the risk to speak her mind. "I think Fudge is being a bloody prat, Kingsley," she said frankly. "If Dumbledore is willing to stand up and say that You-Know-Who is back, then I for one am quite inclined to believe him."

Kingsley then did the last thing that Tonks expected; he smiled warmly at her. "I had a feeling that's how you felt, Tonks. In fact, I told Dumbledore just the other day that it wouldn't be long before you blew."

"Wha—"

"Tonks, what would you say if I told you that there exists a secret organization of witches and wizards dedicated to the fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"I'd say, where do I sign up," she said without hesitation.

"Atta girl," he said smiling. "I thought you'd say that. If you don't change your mind about all this, meet me at the visitor's entrance after work this evening—I promise you won't regret it." Without another word, Kingsley lifted the silencing charm and stood up and headed out of her cubicle. "Oh, and Tonks?" he said, pausing for a moment.

"Yes?"

"I expect that paperwork on my desk by the end of the day."

**XXXX**

Tonks made her way to the muggle entrance of the Ministry at the end of the day, as per Kingsley's instructions. She was walking through the Atrium when she suddenly felt someone behind her. Whirling around quickly, wand at the ready, she was met with a familiar grinning face. "Merlin, Xander!" she yelped. "You nearly gave me a heart attack there, you bloody wanker!"

"Sorry sis," Xander said, smiling even wider. "Thought I'd surprise you, that's all."

Dora chuckled and rolled her honey brown eyes. "You're a great big prat, Xander Tonks, you know that."

"It's what I live for," said Xander, mockingly giving a flourishing bow.

Dora laughed. "How do you always know what to say?"

Xander shrugged. "It's a gift, I guess."

Dora smiled brightly. "So, any particular reason you're here?" she asked.

"What? I have to have an excuse to visit my baby sister?" Tonks glared at him; ever since their parents had told them that Xander was older by about twenty minutes, she hadn't heard the end of it. Seeing the look on her face, Xander relented. "Okay, okay," he said, holding out his hands in a gesture of peace. "I wanted to show you this," he said, whipping out his brand new wand.

Dora shrieked in delight, clapping her hands. "That's bloody brilliant, Xan! Congrats!"

Xander grinned. "Thanks. Andy—Mum took me to get it this afternoon. Thirteen inches, willow, with a…" he suddenly trailed off sadly.

"Whazzamatter, Xand?" Tonks asked, concerned.

His jaw set, Xander said, "I told you about Anya, right?"

Dora screwed up her face in thought. "Your ex-vengeance demon ex-fiancée who didn't make it out of Sunnydale, right?"

Xander nodded his head. "The core is her hair."

Dora started. "What?"

"You heard me. The guy—Ollivander, was it?—said that the core was a hair from the vengeance demon Anyanka—Anya."

"Are you okay with that?" Tonks asked softly.

Xander shrugged moodily. "I'm not sure, honestly. I think it might be kinda nice to have a piece of her with me, but…"

"…it just makes the pain that much more real," finished Dora knowingly.

Xander nodded. "Yeah." He shook himself, burying his bad mood, plastered a smile on his face, and said, "So you gonna teach me some magic now, or what, lil' sis?"

Tonks laughed. "Later, Xan, I promise. How 'bout we go out and celebrate with a drink down at the pub instead?"

"Lead on, fair lady!" said Xander playfully, grabbing hold of Tonks's arm and letting her lead him over to the muggle entrance.

**XXXX**

It wasn't until they had arrived out on the street that Tonks remembered what she had discussed with Kingsley earlier. "Oh shit," she swore suddenly.

"Wazzamatter, Dora?" asked Xander.

"I forgot that I told Kingsley I'd meet him after work."

Xander's eyebrow rose playfully. "Oh, is this your _boyfriend_? Cause, you know, as your brother I get the privilege of threatening him for you—I got a good one involving getting beaten to death by a shovel that I'm just _dying_ to use."

Tonks whacked Xander on the arm playfully. "Shut up, Xan. He's not my boyfriend, he's my boss. He wanted to talk to me about something. I wonder where he—oh, wotcher Kingsley!" Xander looked up to find himself staring into the eyes of a large, rather intimidating black man. Xander wondered why he hadn't noticed the guy before, then realized that he must have come up on his blind side.

"Hello Tonks," said Kingsley impassively. "Did you forget about our meeting?"

"What? Oh, him. Right. Well, see, the thing is…"

"Xander," said Xander, sticking out his hand. "I'm her brother."

Kingsley raised his eyebrow warily. "I wasn't aware you had a brother, Tonks."

Tonks blushed a bit. "Well, neither did I till about a week ago."

Kingsley gave the younger man a questioning look. Xander shrugged it off. "Apparently I was kidnapped by my dad's crazy, permanently drunk cousin as a baby and then raised on the Hellmouth."

The bald auror started. "You're from Sunnydale?" he asked curiously. Xander nodded. "So, were you there when—"

"Yeah, and I'd rather not talk about it right now, thanks. It's all still a little too fresh," Xander said shortly.

Dora patted her brother's arm comfortingly. "Not everyone made it out, King," she said softly.

Kingsley gave Xander a look of understanding. "Right. Sorry about that." He then turned back to Tonks. "So, about our meeting…"

"Yeah, about that," said Tonks, "you wanna tell me what this is all about?"

Kingsley looked uncomfortably at Xander. "Can we discuss this in private?"

Tonks stuck out her chin stubbornly. "Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of Xander. He's my twin and I trust him completely."

Kingsley frowned. "But does he know about You-Know-Who?"

"What? The big bad that no one believes is actually back?" piped in Xander.

"That's the one," said Tonks cheerfully.

"Pshaw," scoffed Xander. "The big bads don't necessarily just lie down and die nicely. If someone—especially some all-powerful wizard guy—says he's back then people should take that seriously. Besides, if the government is denying he back, then he probably is." Tonks looked at him quizzically. "Bad experience with a government organization, I'll tell you later," he said, waving it off.

Dora shrugged. "Fine by me. Anyway, King, you gonna tell me what the bloody hell this is all about or what?"

Kingsley sighed in defeat. "Alright then," he said. "But if he ends up betraying us—"

"He won't," said Tonks confidently.

"But if he does, then there won't be a single place on this earth he can hide, got it?"

"Clear as crystal, Mace," said Xander with a salute.

Kingsley couldn't' help but smile; being well versed in all things muggle he got the pop culture reference all too well. "Alright," he said. "It's like this: you believe Dumbledore, right?"

"Abso-bloody-lutely," replied Tonks without hesitation.

Kingsley nodded. "Well, then I'd like to offer you an invitation to join The Order."

"The what?" said Xander.

"The Order of the Phoenix," said Kingsley quietly. "We're a secret group led by Dumbledore dedicated to fighting against You-Know-Who."

Xander and Dora looked at each other, communicating silently with one another. Coming to their answer, they nodded to each other and Dora spoke. "I'll join," she said, "provided Xander can too." Before Kingsley could protest, she added, "I know you don't know him and I know he doesn't know much magic yet, but he's been through a hell of a lot more than most people these past seven years. He'd make a great asset, King. Besides," she added with a lopsided grin that was quite Xanderish in nature, "he's the one who convinced me to listen to my instincts about this whole mess in the first place."

Kingsley grudgingly agreed. "Very well then," he said reluctantly. He quickly handed them a slip of paper. "Memorize this—_don't_ say it out loud—then burn it. Meet you there!" With a CRACK Kingsley disapparated and left the twins staring at the paper that read _The Headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix may be found at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London._

"_Incendio,_" said Dora, pointing her wand at the paper and setting it on fire. Then she turned to her brother. "You ready big brother?" she asked.

"Lead the way, little sis," he said grabbing hold of Dora's arm. The last thing he said before they disapparated was, "Does this mean I don't get my celebratory drink?" accompanied by Tonks's peals of laughter.

**XXXX**

Dora and Xander arrived at Grimmauld Place to find Kingsley waiting for them. "You remember what you read?" he said shortly. The twins nodded. "Good. Now _think_ about it. Don't say anything, just think."

Tonks and Xander looked at each other bemused, then shrugged. Both thought about what the paper had said and suddenly they could see a house appearing between numbers eleven and thirteen. "Holy sun-dried Moses on dry white toast!" exclaimed Xander, jumping slightly.

Tonks laughed and Kingsley cracked a bemused smile. "Don't worry," Tonks whispered to her boss, "you get used to him after a while."

"Hey!" exclaimed Xander playfully. "I'm missing an eye not an ear you know! I can hear you just fine!"

Tonks rolled her eyes playfully and pulled him up the front steps. "C'mon, pirate man," she teased, "let's follow the nice auror and get the scoop on this Order deal." Tonks stopped quickly. "Bloody hell," she moaned. "I'm starting to sound just like you."

Xander grinned. "I fail to see how that's a bad thing, sister dear," he teased.

Kingsley smiled, trying his best not to laugh at the siblings' antics. "Alright you two, quiet now. Try not to make any loud noises as you enter."

"Why—"

"Just trust me," said Kingsley, pulling out his wand and tapping the door three times. The door swung open quietly and Kingsley motioned the twins in. "Quickly and quietly now," he whispered.

Xander and Tonks were through the door and had started following Kingsley down the hall when suddenly Tonks tripped over something, falling over with a loud THUNK and causing Xander to trip over her and land on the floor beside her. Kingsley sighed and plugged his ears and not a minute too soon either.

"MUDBLOODS! FREAKS! BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS! HOW DARE YOU SET FOOT IN THE NOBLE AND MOST ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK! BE GONE! BLOOD-TRAITORS AND MUGGLE LOVERS! FILTH—"

"Oh shut up, you old hag!" came a hoarse yell. Xander and Dora pulled each other up off the floor just in time to see a haggard-looking man with long, black hair wrestling the curtains closed over the portrait of a screaming woman.

"So that's what Mum meant when she said pictures move and talk in our world," muttered Xander.

"Yeah," Dora muttered back. "But they're normally not that bad."

"Sorry about that," said the man, turning around to face them. "Feel free to ignore my mum—I always have." Xander instantly liked this man. He kind of reminded him of, well, himself, actually. Xander couldn't help but grin back at the man. What really surprised him, though, was Dora's reaction.

"Sirius Black!" she screeched, pulling out her wand faster than lightning and pointing it right at the gaunt-looking man. "Kingsley, why aren't you arresting him?" she whispered fiercely, not wanting to re-awaken Sirius's mother.

Kingsley grinned and forced Tonks's arm down. "Tonks," he said quietly, "he's innocent."

"Really?" said Tonks, raising her bright red eyebrow disbelievingly. Xander was more than a bit confused at this point.

"Whoa, whoa, stop right there," he said, holding up his hands. "To quote my bestest buddy, what the frilly heck is going on here? And who is this guy?"

"Sirius Black," said the man, turning his haunted grey eyes on Xander. "And I'm innocent," he added turning to Tonks. "I was framed by Peter Pettigrew."

Dora turned to look quizzically at Kingsley, who nodded. "It's true," he said. "Dumbledore'll vouch for him."

Dora settled down. "Well, if Dumbledore trusts him, then I just have one thing I'd like to do," she said stonily.

"What's that?" said Sirius, sounding a bit nervous.

"This," said Tonks and without any warning she threw herself at him and hugged him tight.

Without a second thought Sirius hugged him back. "Missed you too, Dora," he said happily.

She pulled away reluctantly, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. "You know," she said, "Mum always did say she couldn't believe you would go and do something so psychotically stupid as that."

Sirius's face broke into a grin. "How _is_ Andy anyway?"

Dora smiled widely. "She's over the moon lately," she said happily.

"And why's that?" asked Sirius.

Dora pulled Xander forward. "He's why," she replied. "Sirius, meet Xander. Xander, Sirius."

"Hey," said Xander. "Am I the only one who's in the dark here?" he asked, shaking the older man's hand.

Sirius shrugged. "I'm not quite sure what you mean, but not to be rude—who the bloody hell are you?"

"Sirius," said Tonks happily, "Xander's my twin brother."

Sirius's eyes went wide. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, suddenly pulling the one-eyed man into a big bear hug. "I haven't seen you since the day you were born!"

Xander patted Sirius's back awkwardly. "Uh, not that I'm not loving the whole reunion thing, but I still don't know who you are and I'm kinda having trouble breathing at the moment."

"Oh, sorry about that," said Sirius sheepishly, letting go of Xander. "I'm your mum's cousin," he said with a smile, "the good one."

"He's also our godfather," added Tonks with a happy smile.

"Mum didn't mention anything about cousins," said Xander thoughtfully. "Dad did—said Jessica was his cousin—but Mum didn't."

Sirius's face darkened. "That's because just about everyone from our side is an evil git or married to one," he said with a frown. "Or both."

Xander looked to Tonks. "I think I need some explanations, please."

Tonks sighed. "I figured."

Kingsley suddenly cleared his throat. "Not to break up this little family reunion, but we do have a meeting to attend," he said, motioning toward the dining room.

"Right," said Sirius, suddenly sobering up a bit. "Everyone's in the dining room—follow me." With a shrug of her shoulders, Tonks grabbed Xander's arm and dragged him off after Sirius, leaving Kingsley to tag along behind them.

**XXXX**

The meeting itself didn't take very long. Nymphadora and Alexander were introduced and Xander told an abbreviated version of his life story and how he'd been "fighting the good fight" since he was fifteen. It took a bit of convincing, but finally both Tonks and Xander were inducted into The Order, the only one outright opposing the both of them being one Severus Snape (the greasy git).

As soon as the meeting was over most of the members took off, leaving behind only Xander, Tonks, Sirius, and Sirius's friend Remus Lupin. The four adults were sitting at the table in silence, each one wanting to start a conversation, but none quite knowing how to do so. Xander sat fiddling with his eye patch while Tonks was morphing her fingernails into various colors and patterns, Sirius was nearly bouncing in his seat, and Remus was staring stoically at the wall.

Finally Xander couldn't take it any more. "I don't suppose you've got any alcohol," he said evenly. Three sets of eyes looked at him. He shrugged and explained, "Dora owes me a drink."

Tonks cracked a smile. "That's right!" she said happily. "Big brother got his first wand today! Sirius, do you have any Firewhisky?"

Sirius smiled mischievously. "Of course, Nymphadora."

"_Don't_ call me Nymphadora," she said tightly, her hair turning from violet to bright red. "It's Tonks."

"He gets to call you Dora," Sirius grumbled as he got up to fetch the Firewhisky.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Is he always such a baby?" she asked Remus teasingly.

Remus smiled, his shaggy, graying, sandy colored hair flopping into his amber eyes, causing Tonks heart to inadvertently beat just a little faster and her belly to do flips. "I'm afraid he's never really grown up," he replied, his voice low and hoarse.

"Something we have in common then," piped in Xander happily. "Now, about this Firewhisky…it doesn't _actually_ set things on fire, does it? Cause, you know, I like fire as much as the next pyromaniac, but what with the missing eye and all I'd probably miss it coming and end up setting the whole house on fire—not to mention myself and all of you too."

Tonks laughed and swatted his arm playfully. "No, you prat," she said happily. "It just feels like your throat's burning when you drink it."

"Oh, if _that's_ all," said Xander sarcastically. Tonks burst into laughter and soon had her brother joining her.

As Sirius stepped back into the room with the promised drink, he found his young cousins practically rolling on the floor with laughter and his old friend watching them bemusedly. "What'd I miss?" he asked, sitting down next to his school friend and pouring out four glasses of Firewhisky.

"Oh, Xan here was just amusing us with his amazing sarcasm," quipped Tonks.

"I live to serve," said Xander, flashing the metamorphmagus a smile and taking a glass of the Firewhisky.

"In that case, I'd like a grilled cheese sandwich on wheat bread with a cup of tea please," said Remus, his face impassive. "Oh, and don't forget the chocolate either."

Xander burst into laughter. "You're good," he said smiling. "What with the stoic face and the sarcasm… you know, you kinda remind me of Oz."

"Who's Oz?" asked Tonks curiously.

"Old friend," said Xander, eyeing his drink warily. "He used to date my best friend, but I haven't seen him in years. Well, bottoms up!" Xander tipped his glass and downed the Firewhisky in one go.

Tonks, Sirius, and Remus all stared him expectantly. When he didn't react, Tonks had to ask, "So? Whaddya think?"

Xander shrugged. "Not bad stuff. How much of this do you think it'd take to get completely wasted?"

Tonks sighed heavily. "Again, Xander?" asked softly. "How long are you going to keep this up?"

He shrugged. "Till the pain goes away, I guess," he said quietly, pouring himself another glass and downing it. "So," he said as he poured himself a third glass, "what was the deal in the hallway earlier? You looked like you were about to kill Sirius there, Dora."

Tonks rolled her eyes, knowing she wasn't going to get any further with him tonight, so she complied. "Sirius escaped from prison," she said simply.

Xander rolled his eye. "I _know_ there's a lot more to it that just that. What were you in for?" he asked.

Sirius smiled at the youth who reminded him a lot of himself at that age. "Got framed for murder," he said. "I was my friend James and Lily Potter's secret keeper—"

"You were who's what now?"

"James and Lily," said Remus. "James was one of our best friends and Lily was his wife."

"A secret keeper, well, that's a bit more complicated to explain," said Tonks.

"It's part of the _Fidelius_ charm," said Remus. "A secret is entrusted to a single living person and no one can find out the secret unless they are told directly by the secret keeper. It's what this house is under—that's why you had to read the paper before you could see it."

"What he said," said Sirius. "So, basically I was their secret keeper, but I convinced them to change to our _ex_-friend Peter at the last minute. I figured I'd be the obvious choice—Voldemort would never think of going after Peter. Turns out Peter was the spy," he snarled. "He betrayed his friends and Voldemort came to Godric's Hollow, killing first James then Lily, but when he tried to kill their twins, Mary and Harry, the spell backfired and he was reduced to nothing more that a spirit of sorts. When I went to check on Peter and couldn't find him, I knew something was wrong, so I went to Godric's Hollow only to find my friends dead. Dumbledore—you do know about Dumbledore, right?—had ordered Hagrid to take Mary and Harry to safety, along with my daughter Cassi, so I decided to go after Peter."

"That really was quite stupid of you, Padfoot, you insufferable git," said Remus mildly.

"Yes, I know that now, Moony, thank you," said Sirius, smiling sadly at his old friend. "Unfortunately, at the time I wasn't really thinking straight. I went after Peter, planning to confront him, but for once he was smarter than any of us could have thought. He screamed to a street full of muggles that I had betrayed Lily and James then he blew up the street and cut off his own finger as he transformed."

"Transformed?" asked Xander, now on his fifth glass.

"Into a rat," growled Remus. "He, Sirius, James, and the girls were all illegal animagi—they learned how to turn into animals."

"Neat," said Xander. "Amy was a rat once," he said, "but it took Willow nearly three years to figure out how to fix her. So what happened next?"

"Well, in the process of blowing up the street, Peter killed twelve muggles, making it look like I had killed them _and_ him. When the aurors came, I was laughing my head off—not one of my finer moments, to be sure—and they sent me to Azkaban with no trial."

"Azkaban's the wizard prison," explained Tonks. "It's guarded by dementors."

"Which are…?"

"Creatures that suck every happy thought out of you and make you relive all of your worst memories," explained Remus calmly.

Xander flinched. "Ouch. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy—okay, maybe on Snyder, but he was a mini-Nazi with a bug up his butt."

Tonks laughed. "Aren't you the eloquent one, Xander."

"Big words for a little girl," said Xander smiling cheekily at her.

"How many glasses have you had, Xand?"

"Six or seven," he replied calmly. "So what happened next?"

"I spent the next twelve years there," said Sirius, his eyes haunted by the memories of his imprisonment. "I finally escaped by turning into a dog. You see, the dementors only sense human emotions, so as a dog I could slip past them unnoticed. I was the first—and only—person to escape," he added, sounding a bit proud. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Congrats," said Xander, raising his glass to Sirius and downing it in one shot.

"Thanks," said Sirius with a smile. "Anyway, I had seen a newspaper article and Pettigrew—Peter—was in the picture—in his rat form, obviously. His owner—a Weasley boy—is a student at Hogwarts, so I headed that way."

"Everyone thought he had escaped to kill Mary and Harry—possibly Cassi too," said Remus sadly. "Myself included, I regret to say."

Sirius nodded. "I made it to Hogwarts and tried to get at Wormtail, er, Pettigrew, several times. I finally succeeded and in the process I revealed myself to Mary, Harry, Cassi, and their friends. Then Moony here shows up and I told the whole story that I just told you," he explained.

"After that—and a, em, _complication_—Padfoot and I revealed Wormtail for who he really was," said Remus slowly. "We were on our way up to the castle when, well…it was a full moon and—"

"You're a werewolf," said Xander simply.

Remus started. "How'd you know?" he asked curiously, a hint of fear creeping into his voice.

Xander shrugged and downed another glass ("I swear to Merlin, Xander, I'm going to cut you off!"). "I told you, you remind me of Oz. He's a werewolf too. Didn't I mention that part?"

"Nope, pretty sure you left that out, Xan," said Tonks cheerfully.

"Oh, well he is," said Xander. "None of us really cared. We'd even take turns Oz-sitting during the full moon."

"What do you mean?" asked Remus sharply. "How were you able to be with him when he was a werewolf?"

"There was a cage in the library—still not sure why, I guess Giles is just weird like that—and we'd lock Oz in during the full moon then take shifts keeping an eye on him, to make sure he didn't get out."

"What if he had?" asked Remus.

"Tranq gun," he said. "Came in handy a couple of time—Willow's a dead shot with it."

Remus raised his eyebrow. "I take it there's a story behind that."

Xander laughed. "Yeah. Crazy jealous boyfriend made a potion that made him go all Jekyll/Hyde and he was convinced that Oz was hitting on his girlfriend—he wasn't by the way; the guy's was hopelessly devoted to Wills. Still is, actually, even though they've been ex for about three years now. Anyway, it so happened that this crazy jealous guy decided to go after Oz on a full moon, right before moonrise."

"So he-he killed him, then," said Remus hoarsely.

"Nah," said Xander nonchalantly. "Willow took Oz out with a tranq before he did any real harm. The guy got away, though, but he showed up dead the next day. Not sure exactly how the guy died—Buffy was a bit vague on the details, but I think it had something to do with Angel."

"Who?" asked Tonks. "I don't think you've mentioned her before."

"Him, and I haven't," said Xander pouring himself yet another glass of Firewhisky. "I don't like him much, but he's Buffy's ex and he _does_ still help us out on occasion." Xander snorted into his glass. "Still don't like him, though. Well, cheers!" he said, downing yet another glass.

Tonks decided it was time to step in. Sure all four of them had been drinking, but Xander was reaching alcohol poisoning level here. "I'm cutting you off, Xander," she said as sternly as she could in her slightly inebriated state.

"Mine!" whined Xander and Tonks took away his current glass. "_Do-ra_," he whined, "I drink I'm not swear, really!"

Tonks scoffed. "Right. And I'm the bloody Minister of Magic."

"Really? I didn't know that. Since when?" threw in Sirius stupidly.

"That, my friend, is what we like to call sarcasm," said Remus, easily the most sober of the four, dryly.

"Let's drink to sarcasm then!" said Sirius cheerfully, raising his glass in a toast.

"D-Dora took mine," complained Xander, trying to take the nearly empty bottle from the middle of the table. "Hey! I jus' want one more, _please_, Dora, with a cherry on top?"

"No," said Tonks, glaring and sticking her tongue out at her brother. "I'm cutting it off! I mean, you off! I'm cutting _you_ off!"

Xander leaned back in his chair and sulked moodily. "You're a meanie, Dora," he huffed. "I don't like you no more."

"And you're being a complete arse, _Xan_," she snapped at him.

Xander pouted. "Will'd let me have more," he complained.

"Yes, well, I have a feeling she'd cut you off about now too," snapped Tonks.

"Pleeease, Dora?" he begged giving her his best puppy dog eyes (which didn't go very well considering he only had one eye and that kind of ruined the effect).

"No!" she snapped at him. "That's it. You've gotten completely smashed every night these past couple weeks, Xander! You keep this up you're going to end up in the hospital or dead!"

"Good for me!" he retorted. "Cause then at least I'd actually feel something other than numb!" he snapped, standing abruptly and knocking over his chair before storming out of the room.

"Now that was entertainment," said Sirius happily. "Ooo! Can I storm out next? _Pleeeeeeeease?_" he pleaded, already well on his way to matching Xander's alcohol intake.

Remus looked from Sirius to Tonks. "It appears we are the only ones not joining in the 'who's going to need a healer first' contest, Nymphadora," he commented lightly.

"It's Tonks," she snapped. "I hate that bloody name!"

Remus raised his eyebrow at her. "I think it's quite lovely," he said softly, smiling at the now red-headed witch.

Tonks was slightly taken aback. Blushing a bit (she had to admit that Remus was kinda cute) as her hair morphed into her favorite bubblegum pink spikes, she muttered, "Yeah, well, you and my mother are the only ones."

Sirius snorted loudly. "You two're _soooo_ weird," he slurred, grabbing the almost empty bottle of Firewhisky and standing up, knocking over his chair in the process. "I'm gonna storm out now too." And with that, Sirius turned around and skipped (yes, _skipped_) out of the dining room to join Xander…wherever the hell he was.

**XXXX**

"Here, Xandy, Xandy, Xandy! _Heeere_, Xandy, Xandy, Xandy!"

"For the love of Twinkies, please shut up," Xander slurred from his seat on the couch in the small front parlor of Number Twelve.

Grinning maniacally, Sirius waltzed over and plopped himself down on the couch next to his eldest godson. "Aw, does poor ickle Xandykins want some more Firewhisky?" he said playfully, dangling the near empty bottle in front of Xander's face.

Xander groaned. "You're evil, Sir," he said. "Jus' gimmie." He reached out to grab the bottle from his black-haired cousin.

"Ah-ah-ah," said Sirius, waving his finger at the younger man. "You only get some if you decide to play."

"Play?" said Xander, completely confused. "Play what? And why?"

"A game," said Sirius. "An' 'cause it's no fun getting drunk if you don't play stupid games while you do it."

Xander pondered this for a moment. Then he nodded. "Makes sense," he said. "So, what's this game of yours?"

Sirius grinned widely. "It's called 'ask a bloody question and whoever has the most embarrassing story has to drink a shot'—I think we were all completely smashed when we came up with the name."

Xander grinned. "I'm in." He glanced at the bottle Sirius was holding and said, "Hope that's not all you got."

Sirius gave a bark-like laugh. "Course not. Now, have a drink and let's get this party started…"

**XXXX**

Tonks and Remus sat in silence at the table after Sirius "stormed out," the only sound being the faint cries of Sirius calling for "Xandy" echoing from the hallway. Tonks shifted restlessly in her chair, glancing at Remus as she did so. Remus was staring blankly into his glass, his thoughts clearly elsewhere.

Tonks finally decided that she couldn't take the silence any longer. "So," she said bluntly, "you're a werewolf, eh?"

Remus blinked his amber eyes and looked across the table at the chipper now blue-haired witch. "Yes," he replied flatly.

Tonks nodded thoughtfully. "When'd that happen?"

Remus stared at her strangely. "A long time ago," he finally replied.

"More specifically."

Remus arched his eyebrow. "Why do you want to know, Nymphadora?"

"Tonks, it's _Tonks_," she gritted out from between her clenched teeth.

Remus's lips twitched in what could have been a smile. "Why, Nymphadora?" he asked again.

Tonks huffed in exasperation. "I'm curious, okay?"

Remus took a sip of his Firewhisky and said calmly, "Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

Tonks huffed again and rolled her eyes. "If you haven't noticed, Lupin, I am _not_ a bloody cat nor am I cat-like in any way, shape, or form—I trip over my own bloody feet for Merlin's sake!"

Remus's lips twitched into a smile. "No, you are certainly not cat-like," he said simply.

"So are you going to tell me?" Tonks persisted.

Remus cocked his head at her in a very canine way, regarding the young metamorphmagus thoughtfully. Tonks couldn't help but squirm under the scrutiny of his intense amber gaze. Finally after what seemed like ages to her, Remus finally spoke. "Someday, Nymphadora, I may tell you, but that day is not today."

Tonks huffed and sulked down into her chair, muttering profanities to herself. Remus and Tonks sat in silence for a while longer before the silence was eventually broken by Tonks, who jumped up from her chair quite suddenly and proclaimed that she had to call Xander's friend Willow and let her know that Xander was alive. She then proceeded to rush out of the dining room as quickly as she could, leaving behind Remus, still sipping his drink calmly and smirking slightly. Oh yes, it was well past time for the Marauders to have a comeback. He'd have to speak to Sirius and Jessi about that in the morning…

* * *

**Please Review! It's like candy; a nice treat. But no flames please. That's like potatoes; nasty and evil. ;)**


	14. Chapter 8: Jessi

**Chapter 8: Jessi**

_**June 5, 2003**_**:** "Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!"

Xander groaned at the incessantly chipper female voice and rolled over, hoping to go back to sleep. Unfortunately for him, he forgot that he had fallen asleep on a rather narrow couch the night before so he instead found himself landing with a large CLUNK on the rather hard wooden floor. Sitting up slowly, Xander remained on the floor, rubbing his sore head as he watched the show unfolding in front of him: Sirius was slouching in an armchair, attempting to sleep while a very tall, _very_ pregnant, brunette woman with honey brown skin was glaring daggers at him.

"G'way, Jess," came Sirius's raspy voice from the armchair beside the couch.

"Up, Siri," said the woman sternly. "You went and got yourself drunk last night; it's your own bloody fault you feel like shit now."

"Bloody hell, Jess," Sirius groaned sitting up and burying his head in his hands, "since when do you mind me getting pissed?"

"Since _I_ can't," she snapped at him.

"Why can't—OW! Bloody hell, Jess! What was that for?"

"You bloody prat!" Jessi hissed. "You knock me up and then have the audacity to ask _why_ I can't get pissed with you! You are _completely_ unbelievable, Sirius Orion Black, you sodding son-of-a-bitch!"

"Sorry," he mumbled incoherently. "Just wanted to help Xander feel better."

"Who?" asked the woman.

Xander decided to pipe up. "That would be me," he said sheepishly. "Xander Ha—er, Tonks. I'm Dora's long-lost twin brother."

Big chocolate eyes scrutinized him intently. "Xander," she finally said, "that wouldn't happen to be short for Alexander by any chance, would it?"

"Yup, that's me."

"Huh," said the woman, breaking into a smile. "I guess that makes you my godson, then."

"Huh?"

"I'm your godmother—name's Jessi Martini, by the way. This _prat_ here is my lover."

"Ah, I see," said Xander, smiling back at her. "Sorry about that."

Jessi waved him off. "Don't be. Don't know what I see in him most days, but then he goes and does something incredibly endearing and it all makes sense again."

"Thanks, Jess," said Sirius with a goofy smile.

"Shut up, Siri, I'm still mad at you," she snapped, whirling on him. "Bloody prat," she sniped at him.

"Spoiled brat," Sirius sniped back playfully.

"Ruddy canine."

"Stupid cat."

"Bloody nutter"

"Bossy witch."

"Incompetent moron."

"Moody feline."

"Pissy child."

"Snippy princess."

"Insatiable prankster."

"Ruddy troublemaker."

"Fugitive."

"Adulterer."

"I know you are but what am I?" snapped Jessi.

"How's the husband?" shot back Sirius, standing up and looking up at Jessi (she was a good three inches taller than him).

"Don't know don't care."

"Are you as turned on as I am?" said Sirius huskily.

"Shut up and kiss me you prat," said Jessi just as huskily.

The next thing Xander knew the two were entwined together as though they were one person rather than two. Disturbed by the mental image of where this scene looked to be heading, Xander quickly slipped out of the room.

**XXXX**

Stepping into the dining room, Xander was pleasantly surprised to see one Remus Lupin sitting at the table, sipping a cup of tea, and reading a copy of _The Daily Prophet_. "Morning Remus," said Xander, smiling at the sandy-haired werewolf.

Remus looked up from his paper. "Good morning, Xander. How are you feeling this morning?"

Xander plopped himself down in a seat and accepted a mug of coffee from Remus before replying, "I woke up with the hangover from hell, but suddenly I'm feeling _much_ better."

Remus smirked knowingly. "Jessi woke Sirius up, didn't she?"

"Yup. And I'm pretty sure they were about to go all National Geographic on me in there."

Remus nodded his head. "I can quite imagine, _believe_ me."

Xander paused a moment then asked. "Are they always like that?"

"Oh, trust me, that was _nothing_," replied Remus casually. "You should see them when Spotts isn't so hormonal from being seven months pregnant with the spawn of Padfoot."

Xander nearly dropped his mug. "It gets worse than _that_?"

Remus nodded his head solemnly. "On more than one occasion at school some poor sod walked into an unused classroom or the Gryffindor common room or the boys' dormitory or the boys' bathroom to find them going at it like rabbits."

Xander shuddered. "_Really_ didn't need that imagery. Is she really my godmother?"

Remus nodded. "Nymphadora's too."

"What the frilly heck were my parents thinking?"

"Sirius was the only family member that your mother got along with and Jessi was a dear friend. Andromeda never experienced the exploits of Sirius and Jessi until _after_ the fact—Andromeda was a Slytherin and we were all Gryffindors—rival houses and all that. She'd heard the rumors, of course, but she refused to believe them."

Xander contemplated this in silence. Suddenly it hit him. "Remus?" he said.

"Hm?"

"I don't hear anything. Do you think it's safe yet?"

Remus glared at him. "Do you _want_ to be scared for life, boy? Jessi's an expert at silencing charms—_believe_ me, I know."

"Oh," said Xander. Then he realized something. "Wait, what do you mean you _know_?"

Remus raised his eyebrow. "Well, let's just say that Sissi and I used to be more than just friends."

"Really?"

"Indeed. Until we slept together and realized that we weren't meant to be."

"So you and her? Just the once, right?"

"Twice," replied Remus, blushing a bit. "We decided to drown our sorrows together eleven years ago and we were both completely smashed—the first time was when we were just out of school."

"So how'd that go for you?" Xander asked teasingly.

Remus blushed bright red. "We decided we were far better off as best friends—brother and sister even, but definitely not lovers. The twins are now eighteen, with careers and families of their own and Finn is nearly set to start Hogwarts in the fall."

"Wait, you're telling me you and Jessi have _kids_?"

"Yes, well, Jessi is immune to magical birth control, and muggle birth control is nullified by the magic naturally present in a witch's body…and Jessi loves her sex."

"I see," said Xander contemplating. "Out of curiosity, just how many kids does Jessi have anyway?"

"Well," began Remus, "she and I have the twins and Finn, she had a son with James the year he died, she has two children with her husband, and she and Sirius have eight not counting the one on the way—so fourteen, soon to be fifteen."

Xander jumped and actually dropped his mug this time. "Sweet googly-moogly!" he exclaimed. "How does she do it? And what do you mean husband? I thought she and Sirius were together."

Remus chuckled. "One question at a time, Xander. As to how she does it, her family is filthy rich; she has a mansion full of servants—more than one, actually—and most of her children are of age, some with families of their own. As for the husband issue, well Jessi and Carlos had a fight while she was pregnant with Eli and she left him, but to this day he reuses to give her a divorce. As you can see, that hasn't stopped her from being with Sirius; they've been together off and on since our first year, even when they were both dating other people."

"She's a very messed up person isn't she?"

"Yes, I'm afraid she is," sighed Remus. "Her parents weren't around much when she was growing up and then her mother was killed at the end of our sixth year. Her father was never the same after that; he withdrew completely and has rarely ever left the comfort of his wing of their castle in Italy since."

Xander contemplated this. "Is she a good mom?" he finally asked.

"She's certainly around more than her or Sirius's parents ever were," replied Remus. "She's not always the most responsible person, but she lays down the law when she has too—her children all adore her, that's for sure and she loves them unconditionally as well, despite whatever else she may claim."

"Well, I guess that's all that really matters, isn't it?"

"Indeed," replied Remus. "She's really an amazing woman you know."

"Well, I really don't know her, but as long as I don't have to see or hear her and my cousin going at it I'm not against getting to know her."

Remus quirked his eyebrow at Xander. "Good luck with that," he quipped.

"What have I gotten myself into here?" muttered Xander, thumping his head on the table and burying his face in his hands.

"I've been asking myself the self-same question since I first met Jessi on the train to Hogwarts back in our first year," said Remus fondly.


	15. Chapter 9: Going Home

**Note:** Just to make it clear, Cordy _is_ still half-demon (so the visions won't kill her), but the whole no-pain vision thing was just because she was possessed for far longer than anyone realized- I mean, Doyle was half-demon too and that didn't stop _his_ visions from being painful.

**Note Squared: **Thought I'd mention that I have a habit of referring to characters by various names/nicknames without much warning of when I'm switching. So, Remus/Moony/RJ/ Remy is all the same person. Same with Sirius/Siri/Padfoot/Pads, Tonks/Dora/Nymphadora/Dory/Dor, Jessi/Jess/Sissi/Spotts/Jessica, Cordy/Cor/Cordelia/Brownie. Most should be pretty straight forward as to who's speaking/being spoken too, but you never know. Sorry for any confusion this may cause- I swear it's not intentional!-but it just kinda happens sometimes...okay, so a lot, but that's _totally_ not the point...

**P.S.~** I know some of the stuff in here is not very realistic, but that's why this is fanFICTION not fanNONFICTION. I'm pretty much not concerned with whether or not something could or couldn't actually happen. If you don't like that or if it offends you, then don't read anymore; it's no skin off my nose. Oh, and if people sleeping around with multiple people and having their kids even while married to someone else offends you, this probably isn't the story for you either. Now, to those who want to continue on and I haven't scared off yet, enjoy! :)

* * *

**Chapter 9: Going Home**

_**June 6, 2003**_**:** The hospital room was empty but for a single young woman lying motionless on the bed. She looked peaceful, almost unnaturally so; the chestnut curls that splayed across the stark white pillow framed her face and gave her pallid skin an almost ethereal glow. In fact, but for the unnatural tone of her skin one would think she was simply sleeping. This was not the case, however: this young woman was in a coma and had been for the past three months. The doctors were now of the opinion that she might never wake up, that she would remain trapped within her calm, peaceful shell forevermore.

**XXXX**

Inside the young woman's mind, she was anything _but_ calm and peaceful. Thoughts and images continually assaulted her mind. Names—Jasmine, Angel, Connor, Fred, Wes, Gunn—faces—a smile, a light kiss, soulful eyes—this was all she knew. Memories were her constant companion. Possessed by an evil being, unable to cry for help, she saw her shell commit unforgivable acts. A baby's cry, a lullaby softly sung. Awkwardness—feelings of love and lust that didn't feel quite right. The first feeling that there was something _wrong_ inside of her. A vision of what might have been, what she had given up for her friends—and what she had gained in return. Pain, head-splitting, mind-numbing pain. Death of an old friend, depression of another. Royalty—she was a princess because of her visions. Healing, mending broken trusts. Emotional pain, pushed away by her best friend. Worry—unhealthy obsession, must fix. Pain. Visions assaulting her brain unmercifully. A kiss—first and last—used to pass on a gift. Smiling grey-blue eyes, goofy clothes, an Irish accent. Brooding—must stop him. An explosion—congratulations, we survived. Fighting, proving her worth. Falling, unimaginable pain. A stolen kiss to break her heart. Holding hands, secret glances. A goofy smile, fiercely loyal. Love? Lots of pain and fear, but also acceptance. Loneliness. Bad girl, no presents for you. No magic, magic is bad. _Jamie_. No, girl, you're ours. If you're good, if you're _normal_, you can have anything you want. Bad girls get punished, you know. Are you a bad girl? Tears. Don't leave me, Jamie! A tired smile, a promise of sweets. Hazel eyes twinkling mischievously behind wire frames. Mummy? Daddy? I'm so sorry, Brownie. Look Dora, look! Bright green hair—Wotcher! We wanna be like Remy and Siri and Petey and Jessi and Jamie! Did you paint your godbrothers? Sorry Daddy. Red hair, smiles. I love you, Auntie Molly. You're _our_ Brownie, you know. What's a-a nick-name Jamie? Jamie—James Potter. Who am I? Brownie…no, _Cordy_. Cordelia Chase. Why doesn't that sound right? Cordelia. Cordelia _what_? You da bestest bwover in da whole wide world, Jamie! And you're my favorite little sister, Cordy. Sister? Brother? Jamie, how comes yous get more dan one name? You do too, Cordy. What bees my big long name, Jamie? You're Cordelia Jillian Potter, my Cordy. Cordelia Jillian Potter. Cordelia Potter. MY NAME IS CORDELIA POTTER!

**XXXX**

Without any warning, the woman who had been in a coma for the past three months sat up quickly. "I remember," she said, her voice hoarse from lack of use. "I'm Cordelia Jillian Potter," she continued, her voice growing stronger as she spoke, "my brother is James Isaac Potter." She stood up shakily, testing her balance. Satisfied that she would not fall over, she removed the various medical devices attached to her body.

A nurse, who happened to walk by, noticed Cordy out of her bed. "My God, what's going on here?" she asked, her voice panicked.

Cordy looked at the nurse, her gaze resolute. "My name is Cordelia Potter," she said strongly, "and I'm going home."

**XXXX**

_**June 13, 2003**_**:** It had been a week since Cordelia had woken from her coma. It had taken quite a bit of convincing, but two days after her awakening she was finally able to talk the doctors into releasing her. The first thing she had done upon her release from "that dratted place" was head down to the LA courthouse where she promptly demanded that she wanted her last name legally changed back to Potter. Again it had taken some convincing on her part, but once Cordy had produced the birth certificate she had found in the Chase's safe mere hours earlier, they relented and legally changed her name. Having taken care of that minor detail, Cordy contacted Angel Investigations, letting them know that she was alive and well, but that she needed to take some time for herself and could they please not try to find her before she headed off to the airport where she promptly bought a ticket on the first plane out to England.

**XXXX**

Upon arriving safe and sound in England, Cordelia rented herself a car and found herself a hotel in the middle of London to stay at. That had been three days after she had woken. Cordy spent the next four days searching for any sign whatsoever of her brother or her childhood home. On the third day she had discovered a strange little pub not far from her hotel where she heard a couple of men talking about the Potters. Turning on her infamous Queen C charm, Cordy asked them if they knew where the Potter Mansion was located and was told that it was located about thirty miles north of London in a fairly secluded area.

That was how Cordelia ended up sitting in her car in front of a large, light gold mansion. Staring up at her childhood home, Cordelia had a sudden flash of a small brown-haired girl and an older teenage girl with skin the color of honey chasing a pack of teenage boys around the front yard.

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Cordy spoke to herself. "Get a grip, Cordelia," she said firmly. "Just go up there, knock on the door, and say 'Hey Jamie, remember me? Your sister? Guess what? I'm back!'" Cordy snorted. "Yeah. That'll go over well. Well, I guess it's now or never." Before she could change her mind or talk herself out of it, Cordy climbed out of her car and made her way up the stone path to the coal black front door. She paused for only a second before lifting the ornate golden lion's head knocker and banging it firmly against the door.

Cordy was startled when the door opened to reveal not the black haired boy of her memories, but a small, strange-looking creature with large tennis ball-like eyes. Before Cordelia had a chance to react, the strange creature let out a squeal of joy and rushed forward, hugging Cordelia tightly about the knees. "Mistress Cordelia is returning to Nessa!" the creature squeaked happily, tears forming in its unnaturally large eyes. "Nessa is being so happy to be seeing Mistress Cordelia again!"

Cordy blinked rapidly as a new flood of long-forgotten memories assaulted her brain: Nessa helping her dress and sneaking her sweets before dinner, helping her tie her shoes and making sure she wore her coat when it was cold outside. Cordy's face broke into a genuine smile. "Nessa!" she exclaimed, bending down to hug the creature she now remembered was a house elf. "How are you?"

Nessa smiled brightly up at Cordy. "Nessa is being quite well, Mistress, but Nessa is being _much_ better now that Mistress Cordelia is returning to Nessa! Can Nessa be getting anything for Mistress?"

Cordy smiled kindly at the small creature. "I'm a bit thirsty, Nessa. Do you have any coffee?"

Nessa smiled and squeaked happily. "Of course, Mistress Cordelia! Come with Nessa, please. Nessa will be showing Mistress to the kitchen and Nessa and Bic will be preparing whatever Mistress Cordelia is desiring."

Following the happy house elf through the house, Cordy took a moment to sort through her recently recovered memories as they walked. "Nessa," she finally said, "you said Bic is still here, right?"

"Yes Mistress Cordelia. Bic is being in the kitchen waiting for Mistress."

"What happened to Tipsy and Bobo, Nessa?"

Nessa's face fell. "Nessa and Bic's parents have been joining Mistress Cordelia's parents a long time ago."

Cordy put her hand on Nessa's small shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Nessa. I'm sure you and your brother miss them dearly."

"Mistress Cordelia is too kind," said Nessa, smiling once again through her unshed tears. "Nessa and Bic is missing them, but we is knowing they is happier being with Master Christian and Mistress Joan. We is knowing they is being happy taking care of Mistress Cordelia's parents. Now we is at the kitchen, Mistress. Come with Nessa, please."

Cordelia followed Nessa into the large kitchen and was promptly greeted by an overjoyed Bic, who hugged her just as tightly as Nessa had. After assuring the ecstatic house elves that she was indeed fine, Cordy settled down at the island in the middle of the kitchen and contentedly sipped her mug of coffee. She was just about to ask Nessa and Bic where James was when a sudden CRACK caused her to jump and spill her coffee on herself. "Shit!" she cursed, looking down at her ruined white shirt. "I loved that shirt!" Hearing a pleasant chuckle, Cordy whirled around to find herself face-to-face with an old man with a long white beard and twinkling blue eyes set behind half-moon spectacles. Sunnydale instincts kicking in, Cordy narrowed her eyes at him. "Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

Chuckling, the man pulled out what Cordy, with her newly recovered memories, recognized as a wand. "May I?" he asked.

Nodding stiffly, still not sure she should trust this strange man dressed in bright lemon yellow robes printed with silver stars and various phases of the moon, her eyes never left his as he waved his wand at her. "What did you do?" asked Cordy suspiciously. His eyes twinkling with mirth, the man simply gestured at Cordy's shirt. Looking down, Cordy saw that the coffee stain on her shirt had disappeared. She smiled happily. "So, who are you?" she asked again, this time sounding much friendlier (well, he _had_ fixed her shirt, he couldn't be _completely_ evil, now could he?). "Are you like Gandalf or something?"

The man chuckled again. "I am flattered, my dear, but no, I am not Gandalf. I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Oh!" exclaimed Cordelia. "I remember you! My brother used to talk about you all the time."

Dumbledore smiled. "Really? And who might you be, my dear, that your brother knows me so well?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm Cordelia Potter—my brother James went to your school."

Dumbledore started a bit and looked more closely at Cordy. "You're James' sister?" he said, looking her over once more. "Yes, yes, I don't know how I didn't see it before…you _do_ look so much like your mother."

Cordy smiled. "Thanks, Professor," she said. She paused a beat then asked, "You wouldn't happen to know where James is, would you?" Dumbledore's face immediately fell at Cordy's seemingly innocent question, the smile fading from his face and his eyes losing their ever-present twinkle.

Cordelia, however, didn't see this because at that exact moment she was assaulted with her first vision since waking from her coma. Letting out a cry of pain, she collapsed and would have fallen to the floor had Dumbledore not been there to catch her. "Tall black man with a shiny bald head—attacked by a dozen creepy guys in black cloaks and white masks—he's hurt real bad—alley outside 'MoM', whatever the hell _that_ is—help him!" she gasped out through the pain.

As her vision subsided, she continued to hold tightly onto Dumbledore, in far too much pain to support herself. Apparently she had been possessed longer than she thought because she hadn't had a vision that painful since her twenty-first birthday. Then again, Doyle had been half-demon and had the visions complete with the mind-numbing pain, so she _must_ have been possessed for longer than she originally thought.

"Cordelia," said Dumbledore kindly through Cordy's haze of pain, "I need you to trust me alright?" Cordy nodded painfully—every little motion hurt like a dozen knives simultaneously stabbing her brain. "Good. In a few seconds I'm going to apparate us out of here to someplace safe, but first I need to tell you that the headquarters for The Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place in London. Do you understand, Cordelia?" Cordelia nodded again in affirmation then moaned in pain as her head moved. Mere seconds later she felt a slight pull and then they were gone.

**XXXX**

The next thing Cordy knew she was being sat down in an unfamiliar chair at an unfamiliar table in an unfamiliar room. Groaning in pain, she buried her face in her arms and lay her forehead down on the cool wooden table. "Molly," she heard Dumbledore say softly, "could you please get our guest some coffee and a painkilling potion? I need to alert Nymphadora and Alastor—Kingsley is in grave danger."

"Of course, Albus," replied a vaguely familiar, motherly voice. "I'll take good care of the poor dear. You just go make sure that Kingsley is safe." Cordy heard a CRACK and assumed that Dumbledore had left. Seconds later she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Here, dear, drink this; it will help with the pain," the same voice said, putting a small vial in Cordy's hand.

Not wanting to be in pain any longer, Cordelia drank the potion without question and within seconds she felt much better. "Thank you," she said gratefully, accepting a mug of coffee from the motherly redheaded woman standing beside her.

"How are you feeling, dearie?" asked the woman, taking a seat beside Cordelia.

"Much better, thanks," she replied, sipping her caffeinated beverage. "Whatever you gave me worked _so_ much better than the stuff I usually take."

"This happens to you often?" asked the redheaded woman, her voice full of concern.

"Unfortunately—it's part of the whole vision package," replied Cordelia.

"Oh, you poor dear," said the woman, giving Cordelia a hug.

Cordy patted the older woman on the back awkwardly. "It's okay, really," she said. "It's my way of helping people, of fighting the good fight. I _like_ being vision-girl. Sure, the pain's not all that fun—okay, no fun at all—but I wouldn't give up my visions for anything."

"That's so brave!" sniffed the older woman, smiling at Cordelia, her honey brown eyes bright with unshed tears.

"Erm, thanks, I think. Not to sound rude or anything, but who are you?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry dear, where are my manners. I'm Molly Weasley—you may call me Molly if you'd like."

Cordy started, nearly spilling her coffee for the second time that day. "I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"Molly Weasley, dear."

Cordy's eyes went wide. "Auntie Molly?" she said, truly looking at the older woman for the first time. She was a bit plumper than Cordy remembered her Auntie Molly to be and she could already see a few grey hairs peppering her bright red hair, but she could still see that this woman was indeed her Auntie Molly.

Molly tilted her head and looked quizzically at the young brunette seer. "Do I know you?" she asked curiously.

Cordelia snorted. "You could say that," she replied mischievously.

Molly looked the young seer over. She couldn't deny that there was something familiar about her. She frowned slightly and asked tentatively, "Are you related to Joan Potter, by any chance?"

Cordy smiled. "I should say so; she was my mum."

Molly gasped. "Cordelia?" she breathed tentatively.

"That's me," replied Cordy, smiling widely at her godmother.

Molly gaped at her long-lost goddaughter for a moment before pulling her into a tight hug. "Dear sweet Merlin!" Molly breathed, loosening her hold on Cordelia so that she could look at her better. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Cordy smiled. "I know! I only remembered all of this stuff a week ago. I just want to get my old life back now."

"Well," said Molly happily, "if you ever need _anything_, Arthur and I will be _more_ than happy to help you out."

"Thanks Auntie Molly," Cordy said with a smile. "So, how's your family?"

"Oh, we're all doing wonderfully, dear. Bill recently left Egypt to work at the London branch of Gringotts; Charlie's still working with dragons in Romania, he has a steady girlfriend, and they have three wonderful children; Percy—" here Molly's voice cracked, "—Percy's working for the Minister and he's refusing to speak to us right now."

Cordy put a comforting hand on Molly's shoulder; even if she didn't really understand half of what Auntie Molly was talking about (how the _hell_ was she supposed to know that her godbrothers were in foreign countries? She hadn't seen them since she was _five_), she _did_ understand that whatever Percy had done was hurting her. "I'm so sorry Auntie Molly."

"Thank you dear," said Molly, squeezing Cordy's hand in thanks. "Now, where was I…oh yes, the twins. Fred and George are going into their seventh year at Hogwarts, Fred is still obsessing over Cassiopeia, and George is trying his hardest to repair his relationship with Mary; Ron's going into his fifth year and Ginny's going into her fourth—they're both doing quite well, actually—they've got lots of good friends: Hermione, Cassiopeia, Mary, Harry, Melinda—"

"Who're Ron and Ginny? And Cassiopeia and Mary, for the matter," asked Cordelia curiously.

"Oh, dear, that's right," said Molly, "you were gone—Ron's our youngest son and Ginny's our baby girl."

"Congrats Auntie Molly," said Cordy happily.

"Thank you dear," said Molly smiling at her goddaughter. "Anyway, Cassiopeia and Mary are two of Ron, Ginny, and the twins' friends. Now, how have _you_ been?"

Cordy shrugged. "For the most part, pretty good. I've been keeping busy since I graduated high school—oh, and I was in a coma for three months."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm fine now, Auntie Molly, honestly," reassured Cordelia. "Being in that coma actually helped me remember my life before Sunnydale—by the way, where is James? I keep asking, but no one's answered me yet."

Molly stared incredulously at Cordelia. "You mean you don't _know_," she said slowly.

"Know what?" asked Cordelia quizzically. "Is there something wrong with him?"

"Dear Merlin," Molly muttered. "When was the last time you heard from him, Cordelia?"

Cordelia wracked her brain for that bit of information. "It was when I was five, so…seventeen years ago," she finally replied.

Molly looked at Cordy sympathetically. "Poor dear," she said, "I had no idea…"

"Where _is_ he, Auntie Molly?" asked Cordy, a tone of panic in her voice.

"Cordelia, dear," said Molly slowly, "James and his wife were killed fourteen years ago by You-Know-Who."

Cordy fell back in her chair as though boneless. "Wh-what?" she stammered, clearly in shock.

"I'm so sorry dear," said Molly, reaching out a hand as though to comfort the girl then thinking better of it.

"Jamie's dead," repeated Cordy slowly, her voice hitching with unshed tears. Molly nodded in confirmation. "And his wife," added Cordelia hollowly. Molly nodded again. "Who—"

"Lily Evans," supplied Molly, "you remember her, don't you?"

"The pretty redhead, right?" said Cordy. Molly nodded in assent. "Jamie always _was_ obsessed with her."

Molly smiled at the fond memories Cordelia's statement had brought up. "Yes, he was," she replied softly. She paused for a second then added, "They had a son, you know. And a daughter—twins, actually."

"Did they—"

"They both survived," Molly assured Cordy and the younger woman let out a sigh of relief. "They're at Hogwarts, same year as my Ron," she added. "They're both friends with him, as a matter of fact, and they're like another son and daughter to me."

"What're their names?" asked Cordelia curiously.

"Mary and Harry," replied Molly. "Mary Lily Eleanor Elizabeth Brianne Guinevere Anor Evans-Potter and Harry James Potter."

"That's a really long name," stated Cordelia.

Molly nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is. But Lily and James didn't know that they were having twins; Mary was their 'unexpected surprise,' as they so fondly called her, and they apparently couldn't agree on a middle name, so they both picked one and they let their four closest friends each pick one too. You remember their friends, right?"

Cordy scrunched up her nose in thought. "I remember Siri and Jessi, Petey, Luna, Gina…oh, and cousin Remy," Cordy finally said.

"Yes, that's right," replied Molly. "Well, except for Peter—you may want to ask Sirius and your cousin about him."

"Why?" asked Cordelia.

"It's not my story to tell," replied Molly simply.

"Fine," conceded Cordelia. "So, where are we anyway?" she asked, switching topics with ease.

"The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black," said a raspy, masculine voice from behind the brunette seer.

Cordy turned around to view the speaker and saw two men standing in the doorway of the dining room. The first was a gaunt, pale man with shoulder-length black hair and piercing gray eyes. Standing just behind him was a familiar sandy-haired, scarred, sickly-looking man with bright amber eyes. Even with the shabby clothes and the streaks of gray in his sandy hair, Cordy would still recognize that particular man anywhere. "Remy?" she said, staring wide-eyed at the tall, thin man, whose face was marred by numerous old scars.

The man in question stepped forward and stared at her oddly. "Brownie?" he said, his voice hoarse. "Is that really you?"

"It's really me," she assured him, standing up from her seat and walking over to give her favorite cousin a big hug.

"I haven't seen you since you were five! You've gone and grown up on me Brownie," he teased.

Cordy laughed at that. "I should hope so, Remy," she said. "I'd rather not be stuck in a five-year-old's body, thank you very much." She took a moment to really scrutinize Remus. "You look old," she finally said, her voice full of surprise. "Why do you look so old? You are _not_ old, Remy!"

Remus chuckled and the man beside him gave a bark-like laugh. "See Moony, you're not old—Brownie said so!" proclaimed the black haired man. Remus just rolled his eyes at him.

Cordy scrunched her eyes and stared at the black-haired man, trying desperately to place him. "Siri?" she finally said. "That you?"

Sirius bowed dramatically. "At your service, Princess," he said dramatically.

Cordy's face fell as she recalled the last person who had called her that particular nickname. "Please don't call me that, Siri," she said softly, her voice tinged with an old pain. Pushing past her memories of Doyle, she took another look at Sirius. "You look awful," she said bluntly.

Sirius looked slightly affronted, but Remus just laughed loudly. "Well, she's got you there, Padfoot," he said, clapping his old friend on the shoulder.

"Moony?" said Sirius, a strange glint in his stormy eyes.

"Yes, Padfoot?" answered Remus, raising his eyebrow at Sirius, indicating that the black-haired man didn't intimidate him in the least.

"Shut up," growled Sirius.

"I'd rather not," replied Moony mildly.

"Bite me," snarled Sirius half-heartedly.

"I'd rather not do that either, you mangy mutt."

"Moooooony!" whined Sirius, his mood changing more quickly than a woman with PMS. "That wasn't very nice!"

Moony quirked his eyebrow at Padfoot. "It wasn't?" he stated. "Well, I'll just have to do better next time, you flea-bitten mongrel."

"Broooownie! Moony's teasing me with sarcasm again!" Sirius whined, turning to Cordelia.

Cordy was doing her very best to fight back her laughter. "And what am _I_ supposed to do about that, Siri?" she asked once she was sure she wouldn't burst out laughing the second she opened her mouth.

"Make him stop!" whined Sirius, giving Cordy his best puppy-dog face (he had that face down to an art—in fact, it was rumored that he had, in fact, _invented_ that face).

Cordy just rolled her eyes at him. "Give it up, Sirius," she said, "I'm immune to the puppy-dog look." Truthfully, she had seen far better from Angel and even Xander (pre eye loss anyway).

"Molly, do you think you could fix us up a small lunch while Cordelia and I attempt to pacify this child?" interjected Remus, hoping to bring the conversation back to something higher than a four-year-old level (though that may have been underselling the four-year-old at this point).

"Hey!" exclaimed Sirius. "I think I'm offended by that!" Cordy and Remus just rolled their eyes at him.

"Of course, Remus," replied Molly, glaring at Sirius. "I'll just be in the kitchen whipping something up if you need me."

"Thank you, Molly," said Remus. The Weasley matriarch smiled at him and Cordy and glared at Sirius once more before disappearing into her domain (the kitchen). "Now," said Remus once Molly had left the room, "why don't the three of us sit down and have a nice chat over a cup of tea—no Firewhisky for you, Sirius, you're still on restriction from your binge last week. I said _sit_, Sirius," said Moony, pushing the sulking Sirius down into a chair before guiding Cordelia back to her chair and sitting down next to her.

"Now," continued Remus, "what have you been up to for the past seventeen years, Brownie?" he asked cordially as he conjured up a tea kettle and poured them each a cup of tea.

"Now that's a loaded question," replied Cordelia with a small laugh. "Besides, I'd much rather hear about you guys and Jamie."

"You do know—" began Remus.

"Yes," interrupted Cordelia. "Auntie Molly told me. She didn't go into the specifics, though—she said I'd have to ask you guys. She _did_ tell me about Mary and Harry, though."

"How much did she tell you about them?" asked Remus, sipping on his tea.

Cordy shrugged. "Not much," she replied. "Just that they're my niece and nephew, they're alive, and that Mary has a _ridiculously_ long name."

"Yes, well it's quite a bit more complicated than that," said Remus.

"You see," said Sirius, "when Voldemort killed Lily and James he tried to kill the twins too, but for reasons that no one knows the curse backfired and he was stripped from his body, existing as little more than a spirit for the next thirteen years while Mary and Harry got away with nothing more than a scar each."

"And after that?" asked Cordy.

"He came back a few months ago," said Sirius, his voice becoming more raspy than usual with emotion. "He performed a ritual using Mary and Harry's blood and he got himself a new body."

"It's actually a bit more complicated than that, but I don't really think you want to hear about that right now," added Remus.

"I see," said Cordelia, trying to keep calm. She remembered the name Voldemort as having something to do with her parents' deaths all those long years ago, but now wasn't the time to dredge up those memories. Deciding that the safest thing was to change the subject, she asked, "So, what have you two been up to for the past seventeen years?"

"Odd jobs here and there," said Remus vaguely.

"Prison—framed for murder," said Sirius, his voice dripping with bitterness.

"Say what now?!" said Cordy, nearly spilling her tea (today was just _not_ her day).

"Peter Pettigrew framed me for the murder of Lily, James, and a bunch of muggles before faking his own death and making it look like I'd killed him too," Sirius explained, "and I got sent to Azkaban. I was there for twelve years; I escaped two years ago and was able to convince Moony, Mary, Harry, Cassi, their friends, and Dumbledore that I was innocent."

"So you're free now, right?" asked Cordelia.

"Not exactly," said Sirius sheepishly.

"He's a fugitive," said Remus quietly. "Peter got away from us before we could turn him in."

Sirius glared at Remus. "Stop blaming yourself for that, Remus," he said sternly. "It wasn't your fault!"

"If I hadn't forgotten to take my potion—" began Remus morosely.

"It—Wasn't—Your—Bloody—Fault," said Sirius punctuating each word by shaking Remus roughly. "Stop with the guilt-trip already, Moony, jeez!"

Remus cracked a small smile. "You're spending far too much time with the Dangerous Duo, Padfoot," he said.

Sirius groaned and sank back into his chair. "Bloody hell," he moaned, "I'm starting to sound just like them, aren't I?"

Remus chuckled. "Indubitably, dear Padfoot. However, I'm sure the girls will be quite elated to hear that they have inadvertently had an impact upon your vernacular, Sirius."

Sirius glared at Remus. "What did you call me?" he growled.

Remus rolled his eyes at his friend. "I merely said the girls will be happy that they have affected the way you speak."

"Oh, that's okay then," said Sirius. He paused for a second then added, "I thought that we agreed no big words that I can't understand, Moony."

Remus smiled mischievously. "No, Padfoot, _you_ agreed. _I_ said absolutely nothing pertaining to whether or not I would persist in using my rather extensive vocabulary to cause you as much aggravation as humanly possible."

"_Mooooooooony!_"

Cordy had been following the conversation with her eyes as the two bantered back and forth—it was something akin to watching a tennis match, in her opinion. "You two are like a couple of kids," she said with a grin as their bantering lulled down.

The two marauders grinned at Cordy and replied together, "Thank you, Brownie!"

Cordy rolled her eyes. "That wasn't a compliment boys," she said dryly.

**XXXX**

Cordy, Sirius, and Remus spent the next three hours poring over their life stories and exchanging witty banter. An hour in, Molly popped in with their lunch, made up some lame excuse about cleaning the third floor bedrooms, and hurried away, leaving the three to continue catching up.

Cordy was just getting to the part in her story where she left for LA when she was quite rudely interrupted by peals of raucous laughter coming from the front hall. Yelping, Sirius leapt from his seat just as a loud shrieking began, emanating from the same hallway. "MUDBLOODS! FILTH! SHAME OF MY FLESH! HOW DARE YOU BEFOUL MY FATHER'S HOUSE! CRETINS! UNCLEAN—"

"SHUT UP, YOU OLD HAG!" Sirius barked loudly.

Cordy raised a questioning eyebrow at her cousin as the cacophony of noise in the hallway died down and asked, "Do I even _want_ to know?"

Remus smiled grimly. "_That_ was Mrs. Black," he explained, "Sirius's mother. We can't seem to get her portrait down, no matter how hard we try."

"She sounds lovely," deadpanned Cordy.

"Doesn't she just," replied Remus in his usual sarcastic tone.

As Remus finished speaking, Sirius came back into the dining room panting and smiling. "Sorry about that," he said cheerfully. "It was just some loud, clumsy visitors deciding to grace us with their presence."

"Ah," said Remus knowingly, "the Tonks twins have arrived."

"The who?" asked Cordy curiously.

"The Tonks twins," explained Remus patiently. "They're—"

"Honey, I'm home!" interrupted an incessantly cheerful sing-song voice that was most undeniably female. Cordy whirled around to see a tall young woman with shoulder-length, platinum-blonde hair framing her heart-shaped face and accentuating her bright turquoise eyes standing at the threshold of the dining room door.

"Good afternoon, Nymphadora," said Remus smoothly. Cordy's eyebrows shot up—was he _flirting_ with her? Oh my God, he _WAS_!

"Who's your friend, Remus?" asked Nymphadora, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Remus gave her an amused smile. "Why Miss Tonks," he teased playfully, "if I didn't know any better I'd say you were jealous of my dear cousin here."

"C-cousin?" stuttered Tonks, looking ten different kinds of relieved (not to mentions two or three different kinds of embarrassed). "You never mentioned you had a cousin, Remus."

Remus quirked his eyebrow at the blonde-haired woman and said simply, "No, I didn't." Tonks looked at him expectantly, but the sickly-looking man offered her no further information.

Taking pity on the forlorn-looking woman, Cordy rolled her eyes, held out her hand, and said, "Hi, I'm Cordelia Potter. Tall, sick, and silent there is my cousin."

"I resent that comment, thank you very much," Remus said softly, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Whatever, Remy," said Cordelia, rolling her eyes at him.

Tonks chuckled playfully. "I can _definitely_ see the family resemblance," she teased. "I'm Tonks, by the way. Well, _Nymphadora_ Tonks actually, but I bloody hate my first name," she amended, making a face of disgust at her name as she shook Cordy's hand.

Cordy made a face too. "I don't blame you," she said. "What was your mum _on_ when she named you?"

Tonks shook her head helplessly. "I ask myself the same thing every day," she said morosely.

"Ask yourself what?" came an all-too familiar male voice from behind Cordelia.

Cordy whirled around, her eyes wide. "Xander?!" she exclaimed, surprised.

Standing in the doorway, Xander froze, his single brown eye wide and his jaw hanging open. "C-Cordy?!" he stuttered once he had regained control of his motor skills.

Before Cordy could respond, she found herself caught in a tight Xander hug. "Xander, wha—?"

"You're alive!" he exclaimed happily, refusing to let her go. "You're awake and alive!"

"Not for much longer if I don't get some air, doofus!" she choked out, convinced that she was turning purple from lack of oxygen.

"Oh, right. Sorry," said Xander sheepishly, reluctantly letting go of the former cheerleader. As Cordy caught her breath, Xander began speaking again. "So," he said slowly, "you're not dead. Or in a coma." Cordy gave him a strange look. "No, no!" he protested vehemently, holding up his hands in a gesture of peace, "That's a _good_ thing! Really! I mean, Deadboy—" he caught Cordy's glare, "I mean _Angel_ called us a few months ago and told us you were in a coma and probably wouldn't ever wake up. I wanted to visit you, you know, but things were crazy busy with the First trying to off the girls and me losing an eye and all…and did I mention how happy I am that you're awake and not of the dead? Cause I am. Happy, that is. I mean, that you're not of the dead. Or the undead, for that matter. I mean—"

"Shut up Xander!" Cordy yelled. Xander fell silent. "Thank you," said Cordy. "God, you're as bad as Willow with all the babbling."

"Sorry," the one-eyed carpenter said sheepishly.

"It's okay, Xander," said Cordy softly. "Honestly, I've kinda missed that—I mean Fred-babble just doesn't hold a candle to a good Willow-babble. And I'm glad that you're happy that I'm not dead—I'm pretty happy about that too. Now, what the _hell_ are you doing here, Xander?" Her voice suddenly changed to an icy annoyance.

"I'm here with my baby sis," explained Xander, smiling cheekily and throwing an arm around Dora's shoulders.

"Twenty minutes," Tonks muttered, "twenty _bloody_ minutes younger and he won't stop rubbing in my bloody face!" Her hair suddenly morphed into tight, electric blue ringlets falling down to her waist.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Cordy, suddenly looking at Tonks in a whole new light. "You're _Dora_!"

"Hey!" protested Xander, pouting playfully. "Only I get to call her that!"

Cordy ignored him. "I can't believe it!" she said happily, staring at Tonks as she spoke. "You're just like I remember you!"

"Um, sorry, but what the bloody hell are you talking about?" asked Tonks.

"Two words, Dora: Madam Puddlemore's."

"MERLIN'S DIRTY GREEN GYM SHORTS!" Tonks exclaimed, finally placing the young seer. "_Cor!_"

"Pulled any pranks lately, Dora?" Cordy asked with a mischievous grin.

Tonks laughed merrily. "Only every bloody day," she said with a smile. "Still trying to pull one over on the three remaining Marauders, though."

"And how's that going for ya, cuz?" asked Sirius with an evil grin. Tonks mumbled something inaudible. "I'm sorry, cousin dearest," Sirius teased, "I didn't quite catch that. Would you care to repeat that a bit louder, please?"

Tonks glared at her maniacally grinning cousin. "I said," she muttered through her gritted teeth, "Moony, Padfoot, and Spotts are pranking gods and I am not worthy to lick their bloody sneakers."

"Damn straight," said Sirius still grinning like a madman.

"Just you wait," Tonks seethed at the black-haired fugitive, "I've got my partners-in-crime now. You three sodding gits better watch out for Tonks, Xander, and Cordy from now on."

"Hey!" protested Xander. "When'd I agree to this?"

Tonks glared at him with angry amber eyes. "You're my bloody twin, Xander; you don't get a choice in the matter," she snapped at him, grabbing him and Cordy by their arms and dragging them out of the room.

"This means war, Sirius Black!" Tonks yelled back at the ex-convict as she and her "volunteered" cohorts headed up the stairs.

"Whatever you say, cuz!" Sirius called back to her.

Chuckling, the black-haired animagus turned to Remus, who was currently staring after Tonks even though she was already far out of sight, even for someone of his enhanced vision. "We'll show them who the _REAL_ pranking gods are, right Moony?" he said to his very distracted lycanthropic friend as he plopped himself down into a chair beside him.

"Mm-hm," replied Remus distractedly.

"We have to plan a bloody brilliant strategy—that's your job, Moony, old boy," Sirius rambled on.

"Mm-hm," said Remus again.

"And we'll have to call Jessi in on it, of course."

"Mm-hm."

"Full moon's tonight, tomorrow, and the day after, so we'll have to work around that."

"Mm-hm."

"Jessi'll be here soon."

"Mm-hm."

"Moony, can I have a pet dragon?"

"Mm-hm."

"Can I get a manticore cub too?"

"Mm-hm."

"I'm going to strip naked and run around the house screaming bloody murder at the top of my lungs in, say…fifteen minutes. That okay with you, Moony?"

"Mm-hm."

"I'm also going to abduct Mary and Harry from those bloody muggles they stay with and take them out drinking all night long. You okay with that, buddy old pal?"

"Mm-hm."

"Did I mention I'm taking Cassi and Finn out drinking too?"

"Mm-hm."

"You okay with that, Mr. Moony?"

"Mm-hm."

Deciding that this called for drastic measures, Sirius grinned evilly at his friend and asked, "Moony, can I have your chocolate?"

"Mm-h—NO! Sirius Orion Black that is _NOT_ funny!" yelped Remus, snapping out of his Tonks-induced trance at the mention of his precious chocolate.

"You are _so_ bloody predictable, Moony," chuckled Sirius happily. "Figures, the only thing that can distract you from my dear lovely cousin is your precious chocolate."

"Sirius," growled Remus menacingly.

"Yes Remus?"

"Shut up before I bite you."

"Shutting up now."

* * *

**~R&R (it helps to appease the voices in my head)-but NO FLAMES PLEASE! (_constructive_ criticism welcome)~**


	16. Chapter 10: Wizards, Witch, & Werewolf

**Chapter 10: The Wizards, the Witch, and the Werewolf**

_**June 14, 2003**_**:** Cordy, Xander, and Tonks had spent the entire night plotting and reminiscing. The plotting took priority, but once that had subsided they turned to exchanging watered-down versions of their life stories. Soon Cordy had learned all about Xander's kidnapping and subsequent placement in Sunnydale, then later of the loss of his eye, the death of Anya, the destruction of Sunnydale, and the discovery of his birth family. She also learned a bit about Dora's school years and her days in the auror training program.

After being pushed, prodded, and guilted into it, Cordy proceeded to tell her tale: from her arrival in LA to her reunion with Angel; from Doyle's death and receiving his visions to the appearance of Wesley and meeting Gunn; from the drama that was Darla and Angel to the subsequent firing of his team; from meeting Lorne and her enslavement-to-royalty stint in Pylea to saving Fred; from the news of Buffy's death and Angel's subsequent depression to the return of Darla and the birth of her miracle child, brought about by her own self-sacrifice; from the news that Cordy's visions were slowly killing her to her choice to become part demon in order to keep them ("See! It's always _me_ the demon chicks are attracted to!"—"Shut _up_, Xander."); from the reemergence of Holtz to Wesley's false interpretation of a prophecy and his subsequent betrayal; from Connor's kidnapping and childhood spent in the hell dimension of Qor-Toth to his ultimate return and brainwashed, deep-rooted hatred of his biological father; from Connor sending Angel to the bottom of the sea to Cordelia herself becoming a higher being; from Cordy's return and loss of memory to her possession by the being known simply as Jasmine; from Connor's major Oedipal complex to Cordy's "pregnancy"; from Jasmine's manipulation of Connor through Cordelia to the loss of Angel's soul (again); from the appearance and death of The Beast to the return of Angel's soul via Willow; from the "birth" of Jasmine to Cordelia's coma; and finally the return of Cordy's memories of the magical world, her awakening, and her arrival at Grimmauld Place. That particular conversation had lasted far into the night and none of the three got to sleep until well into the wee hours of the morning. Therefore it was well after noon (thank Merlin Dora didn't have to go into work in the morning) before the three twenty-two-year-olds deigned to grace the house with their presence.

**XXXX**

It was two o'clock when Xander, Cordy, and Tonks finally stumbled, bleary-eyed, into the dining room. They were vaguely surprised to see that they weren't the only ones still half-asleep: sitting at the table looking like death himself was Remus, looking much sicker than usual, accompanied by Sirius and a pregnant, honey-skinned, brunette woman, both of whom looked only slightly better than Remus.

"Morning," Cordy said blearily, plopping down into the seat next to Remus. Xander and Dora silently plopped down too—Xander between Sirius and Dora and Dora between Xander and Remus. Sirius and Jessi (the pregnant woman) both gave the three younger adults small smiles while Remus simply grunted and continued to stare blankly into his cup of tea.

As the six adults sat silently at the table, the motherly Molly Weasley bustled in and set a cup down in front of each of them, gently refilling Remus's own as she did so. Jessi took a sip from her cup and instantly spat it back out. "This isn't coffee," she whined, staring pitifully at Molly.

Molly pointedly ignored her look. "Of course it's not," she scoffed. "None of that rubbish in your condition, dear. No, it's tea for you till that little one pops out."

"But _Mo-lly_—"

"No buts, dear," said Molly with finality.

"Fine," huffed Jessi. "Can I at least have the peanut butter jar and a spoon, then?"

Molly smiled softly at the younger woman. "Of course, dear," she replied kindly. "I'll go get that for you; you just sit there and relax."

"Thank you, Molly."

"You're quite welcome, Jessica."

Chuckling quietly, Cordy turned from Jessi to say something to her cousin only to find that he had fallen asleep in his tea—quite literally at that. Poking him gently she said, "Remus! Wake up, Remy!"

"Don't bother," said Sirius, his voice thick from sleep. "He won't wake up. 'Sides, he needs his rest; last night was a bit rougher than normal for him."

"Huh?" said Cordelia, confused as to why last night would be "rougher" than "normal."

"Don't you _know_?" asked Jessi curiously, graciously accepting the peanut butter jar and spoon from Molly as the Weasley matriarch bustled back out of the room.

"Know _what_?" asked Cordy curiously. "Is there something wrong with Remus?"

"Not more so than usual," replied Sirius cryptically.

"Then what's the matter?" persisted Cordelia.

"You remember Oz, right?" asked Xander suddenly.

"Duh," said Cordy rolling her eyes in exasperation. "He's kinda hard to forget: short, spiky-haired stoic guy. He was the only one of you Scoobies I could stand one hundred percent of the time."

"Well," continued Xander, "you remember what happens to Oz on full moon nights?"

"Uh, yeah. He's a werewolf, duh."

"Right. Well, last night was a full moon."

"So? It's not like he's _here_ or anything—is he?"

Xander sighed in exasperation. "No, he's not here," he replied slowly, "but Remus and Oz have that full moon problem in common."

"Remy's a werewolf?"

"Bingo."

"Oh. Poor Remy."

"So…you don't care?" asked Sirius cautiously.

"Duh," said Cordy with another eye roll. "He's my cousin. Besides, werewolves are people all but three nights a month—honestly, there's three nights a month _I'm_ a monster to be around."

"Just three?" quipped Xander.

"Shut up, Xander."

**XXXX**

_**June 20, 2003**_**:** The three days of the full moon passed with no more problems than usual. A few days later, Remus was mostly recovered and feeling as good as he ever did. It was then that he decided that it was his duty as Cordy's cousin to personally take her to get her very first wand. Xander and Sirius—as their pet dog Snuffles—decided to accompany Remus and Cordy to Diagon Alley (Dora wanted to come too, but unfortunately she had to work).

Cordy gasped in awe as she entered Diagon Alley for the first time in seventeen years; it was even more amazing than she remembered. Xander and Snuffles smiled (yes, the dog smiled—this _is_ Sirius we're talking about, after all) at her reaction and Remus chuckled lightly. "Come on, Brownie," he said gently. "We need to stop by Gringotts to get you some money before we can get you your wand."

Cordy wordlessly followed Remus into the bank, leaving Xander and Snuffles outside (Xander claimed that his lack of depth perception caused him to get sick more easily on the Gringotts carts—as if Remus couldn't see right through _that_ excuse).

Once inside Remus spoke briefly with a goblin (Gornook according to the name placard), handed him the key to Cordy's vault (according to Remus, it had been set up for her by her parents years ago in the event of their deaths), and they headed down to the vault, escorted by another goblin, this one named Grandock.

After the nauseating ride to and from her vault, Cordy and Remus both had to take a breather before continuing on, much to Xander and Snuffles' amusement—that is, until Remus brought up what Dora told him had happened Xander's first time at Gringotts and what happened to Sirius _every single time_ he went. That shut the two cousins up real quick. Once Remus and Cordy were sure that they weren't going to hurl all over their friends (though they weren't quite sure that they didn't deserve it at this point) they all headed off to Ollivanders.

**XXXX**

Remus pushed open the door to the small, dimly lit shop, causing a bell to tinkle softly. "Welcome," said a soft, creepy voice from the back of the shop. Squinting her eyes to see better, Cordy was able to make out a strange, thin man with large, pale, almost luminescent eyes slowly making his way toward them. "Remus Lupin," the man said softly, not blinking once. "Rosewood, thirteen and a quarter inches, unicorn hair. Quite reliable—excellent for defense. You _are_ still taking care of it, right boy?"

"Of course Mr. Ollivander," Remus replied solemnly,

"Good, good. And Alexander Tonks," Mr. Ollivander said, turning his creepy, unblinking gaze on the one-eyed man. "Willow, thirteen inches, hair from the vengeance demon Anyanka. Very pliable—good for transfiguration. How is it working for you?"

"I'm learning slowly, but surely," answered Xander nervously.

"Good, very good." Ollivander then turned his creepy gaze on Cordy. "Ah, Cordelia Potter," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I've been wondering when I'd be seeing you. Which is your wand arm?"

"Er—my right?"

Ollivander produced a tape measure from seemingly nowhere and began to measure Cordelia's arm. As the tape measure continued to measure various body parts by itself, he told her all about how the wand chooses the wizard or witch not the other way around. He also explained about the cores he used for the wands and how no two wands were exactly alike. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Cordelia, Ollivander snapped his finger and the tape measure fell to the floor.

"Try this one," he said, handing Cordy a wand. "Oak, eleven inches, phoenix feather. Rather rigid. Give it a wave, go on." Cordy had barely moved when the wand was snatched away from her. "No, no. That simply won't do. Try this one: willow, nine inches, dragon heartstring, nice and flexible. Give it a wave—No. How about this one: redwood, ten and a half inches, unicorn hair, excellent for healing. Go on—No, that's not right either. Tricky customer, eh? Don't worry," he said, "we'll find your match." Ollivander rummaged around one of the shelves in the far back of the store for a bit. "You're a seer, correct?" he asked as he dug around.

"Yes," replied Cordelia proudly; she loved her visions, despite the mind-numbing pain that accompanied them, as they gave her a sense of purpose and meaning.

"Hm," said Ollivander thoughtfully, pulling out another wand. "I think we'll try this one. Mahogany, twelve and a quarter inches. Quite whippy. Give it a wave, Miss Potter." Cordy took the wand and instantly she felt a wave off warmth spreading up through her arm. She gave the wand a wave and a stream of silver mist shot out of it. "Wonderful, simply wonderful!" praised Mr. Ollivander. "I've been wondering when someone would come and claim this particular wand."

"What's so special about it?" asked Cordy curiously.

"Well my dear," said Ollivander, staring straight into her eyes, "the core of that particular wand is a single hair from an Irish, half-demon seer."

"Doyle," said Cordy in wonder.

"Yes, I do believe that was his name," said Ollivander softly. "He told me that someday a young seer would come to me in need of a wand and that I was to give her one made with his hair as a core."

"That sneaky little Irish _bastard_," said Cordelia fondly. "He _knew_! _God_, I miss him!"

Xander came up to Cordelia and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "At least now you'll have another piece of him with you," he said softly. "And this one won't cause you any physical pain, either."

Cordy looked up at Xander in surprise. "You're right," she said slowly. "When'd you get so damn insightful, Xander?"

Xander gave his ex a lopsided grin. "Since I'm 'The One Who Sees,'" he said. "It's what I do."

"Git," said Cordy fondly.

"You know you love me," he replied cheekily.

"Yes," said Cordy almost inaudibly, "I think I just might."


	17. Chapter 11: What's in a Name?

**Note Time:** So I'm finally getting around to posting some new chapters. I swear I've got at least ten more actually written, just not edited. Stupid real life gets in the way, all its shiny real life distractions and whatnot...

* * *

**Chapter 11: What's in a Name?**

_**June 22, 2003**_**:** Cordy was pacing across her room. Tonight she was going to have dinner with her godfamily for the first time in seventeen years. So far Auntie Molly was the only one she had seen, but the rest of the Weasleys—minus Percy—were moving into Number Twelve tonight. Even Charlie was coming to stay for a few days before heading back to Romania and his dragons. Needless to say, Cordy was nervous.

A soft knock sounded on her door and Cordy jumped, startled. "Cor?" called Dora. "You in there?"

"Yeah, come in Dora."

Dora came in, her Weasley-red hair falling past her shoulders in soft waves and her feral amber eyes paying tribute to the object of her affections (*coughremuscough*). "How you holding up?" she asked, taking a seat on Cordy's bed.

Cordy stopped pacing and turned to face Dora. "I'm nervous as hell," she snapped. "I haven't seen Uncle Arthur or Bill or Charlie in _seventeen years_! The twins were only a few days old back then and I've _never_ seen the rest of them. Oh, and the last time I saw Bill and Charlie—besides my parents' funeral—we both dumped green paint on them!"

Dora's face broke into a huge grin. "Oh, yeah," she said. "I remember that. Bloody brilliant, that was."

Cordy cracked a small smile. "It was, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was."

The two old friends sat in silence for a while. "You think they remember?" Cordy asked.

"Nah," replied Dora. "Bill doesn't hold grudges and Charlie's taken one too many bludgers to the head to remember something that happened so long ago. 'Sides, even if they _do_, they both like a good practical joke as much as any of their brothers. 'Cept Percy. Not sure what's wrong with that git."

Cordy giggled. "He always was a pompous prat, wasn't he?" she said. "Even as a kid."

"Yup," said Dora with a chuckle of her own. "That's Percy to a T."

The two were silent for a moment. "You really think this dinner's gonna be okay?" Cordy asked.

Dora pulled Cordy down onto the bed beside her and gave her a great big hug. "I _know_ it will," she said. "The Weasleys are an amazing lot; you have absolutely _nothing_ to worry about. _Trust_ me."

**XXXX**

When Cordy and Dora finally made their way downstairs they found Xander pacing outside of the closed dining room door. "How's that hole to China coming there, Xander?" Cordy teased.

Xander looked up, startled. "Hey," he said, ignoring Cordy's teasing.

"You nervous there, Xan?" Tonks asked. Xander nodded . "Don't be."

"Have you _seen_ how many people are in there?" he said, panicking a bit. "That's a _heck_ of a lot of red."

"It's just the Weasleys," said Tonks, rolling her eyes, "and Remus and Sirius and Jessi—possibly King."

"Big scary black guy, right?" said Xander.

Tonks rolled her eyes again. "He's just my boss, Xander," she said. "He's cool. Besides, you've met him already."

"Yeah, but I didn't do much else," Xander grumbled.

"Shut up and get in there, you bloody cowards," said Tonks, pushing Xander and Cordelia through the door. The two stumbled rather ungracefully into the room. Xander fell over and landed hard on the wood floor and Tonks, following close behind her friends, laughed, then promptly tripped over her twin and landed on top of him.

Cordy, however, got lucky. As she stumbled through the door, she found her descent stopped by a pair of rather calloused, strong hands. She looked up at her rescuer and smiled at him. The first thing that she noticed was his short red hair and overabundance of freckles, indicating that her rescuer was, in fact, a Weasley. She then noticed that the man's lightly tanned skin was peppered with various burns and scars. What caught her attention the most though was his eyes, his strangely familiar, bright, honey-brown eyes, which sparkled with mischief and mirth.

"Charlie?!" she said.

"'Lo Cordy," he said, smiling widely. "Long time no see."

"Same to you, Charlie. God, it's been _ages_!"

"See, told ya you'd like your surprise, Char," said Dora as Remus (hehe) helped her up from the floor.

Charlie laughed loudly at that. "You were right, Dor," he said with a smile. "Just like old times, eh?"

"More like _ancient_ times," piped in Cordy. "_God_, that was a lifetime ago!" She sighed happily and added, "It's _so_ good to be home."

"Glad to have ya, Cor," said Dora with a genuine Tonks-smile. Cordy grinned back at her and noticed that Dora had yet to let go of Remus's hand. Dora noticed Cordy's gaze and dropped Remus's hand as if it had burned her. "Shut up, Cor," she muttered darkly.

"Whatever for?" asked Cordy innocently, her chocolate eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Huh?" said Xander, finally up off of the floor.

Cordy rolled her eyes at her ex. "Never mind, Xander," she said. "It's a girl thing."

"Oh, right," he said accepting Cordy's explanation without question. "So, what's for dinner? I'm starved."

"You ate enough to feed a small army at lunch, Xander," said Cordy. "How the hell can you _still_ be hungry?"

Xander shrugged. "It's a guy thing," he said, grinning cheekily at her.

"Aargh!" Cordy huffed. "You are bloody _impossible_, Alexander Harris!"

"It's actually Alexander _Tonks_ now," Xander pointed out.

"Whatever," said Cordy, rolling her eyes at the one-eyed man. "You're still impossible."

"And you're still the same old Queen C," Xander snapped back.

"Doofus!"

"Bossy!"

"Dumbass!"

"Airhead!"

"Dweeb!"

"Brat!"

"Cheater!"

"Bitch!"

Cordy and Xander paused to take a breath and the next thing any of them knew the two were snogging passionately in front of everyone. "Is it just me or are you having flashbacks of high school here too?" said Xander breathlessly as they pulled apart.

"Shut up and kiss me, you bloody prat," snapped Cordelia, pulling Xander close and proceeding to snog him senseless.

_Works for me_, thought Xander as he continued to snog his high school sweetheart.

Cordy and Xander continued snogging until Molly came into the room with the dinner. "He-hem," Molly cleared her throat, causing the snogging couple to break apart. "Well," said Molly, her voice light with amusement, "I'm glad to see that you two are getting on so well, but right now it's time to eat so please take your seats."

"Yeah, we're starving here!" called out one of the identical twin redheads.

"Wasting away to nothing, we are!" called out the other twin.

"Not very nice, you know," they said together, their honey-brown eyes sparkling with laughter.

"Fred, George, please just shut up so we can eat," said a redhead who wore his long hair pulled back in a ponytail and sported a stylish fang earring.

"Yeah, what Bill said!" cried out the youngest redhead boy.

"Ronald, don't encourage them," piped in the small girl with bushy brown hair seated next to him.

"But Mione—"

Mione glared at him, her deep brown eyes locking with his honey-brown ones, and he fell silent. "And _that_ is how you deal with Ronald, Ginny," she said to the redheaded girl seated on her other side.

"Thanks Hermione. I'll keep that in mind," Ginny said with a smile.

"Well, if that's all done with can we please eat?" piped in Jessi. "Baby's hungry—and _no_, Sirius, we are _not_ naming her Tiger Lily or Princess Jasmine, so don't even _think_ about it! Honestly, next time Aly and Hales want you to watch a bloody movie with them, you are watching something _other_ than sodding Peter Pan or Aladdin, understand?"

"Yes, dear," said Sirius.

"I have you _so_ well trained," said Jessi with a smirk. The whole table burst into laughter as she petted Sirius's head as if he were a great, loveable puppy. Sirius just scowled darkly at his pregnant lover and took it like a man…dog…person…thing.

As they were all laughing at Sirius's scowling face, the large black man from Cordy's vision two weeks earlier came into the dining room sporting an almost non-existent limp. "Wotcher Shacks!" cried out Dora as the man sat down beside Arthur.

"Hello Tonks," he replied with a smile. "And how many times have I told you _not_ to call me that ridiculous nickname, _Nymphie_."

"Point taken," Tonks grumbled, shuddering at the nickname Kingsley had bestowed upon her. "I'll stop _Kingsley_."

"Thank you, _Nymphadora_," he teased.

"_Don't_ call me that, Shacklebolt," she snarled, her Weasley red hair growing redder and her amber eyes flashing dangerously as she spoke.

Kingsley held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, Tonks," he said. "It won't happen again."

"Good," snapped Tonks as her hair went back to Weasley red. "It better not."

Kingsley nodded his shiny, bald head in affirmation then turned his attention to Cordelia. "So," he said, "you must be the seer Dumbledore found."

"That's me," said Cordelia. "I'm vision-girl."

Kingsley smiled at her. "I understand that I have you to thank for remaining amongst the living."

Cordy shrugged. "It's no big," she said. "It's kinda what I do, you know—use my visions to help people and all, that is."

"Still," said Kingsley, "I must thank you for helping to save my life. I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt, by the way."

Cordy took his offered hand and shook it. "Cordelia Potter," she said by way of introduction.

Kingsley's eyes shot open wide. "Potter?" he said. "Was you father Christian Potter, by any chance?"

"Yup," replied Cordelia with a bob of her head. "Chris was my daddy dearest."

"Chris Potter was my mentor in the auror training program."

"Aurors're like policemen in the wizarding world, right?" asked Cordelia, trying to get her facts straight. She hadn't really understood what an auror was at five years old (the last time she was in the wizarding world), so she wanted to make sure she knew now.

"Sort of," replied Kingsley, ever proficient in muggle culture. "Technically we're 'dark wizard catchers,' but I suppose one could make that comparison."

"Neat," said Cordy. She then turned to Molly, who was busy serving the food, and asked, "So, Auntie Molly, are you gonna introduce me to your little rugrats now?"

"Rugrats?" asked Arthur curiously. "What's that? Is that like a fellytone or plugs?"

"Sorry," said Cordy, "must be an American thing or maybe a muggle thing—or quite possibly both. I meant the kids. Oh, and it's from a cartoon, by the way."

"Right," said Arthur. He opened his mouth again, most likely to ask Cordy about 'fellytision' or possibly cartoons, but he was stopped by a glare from his wife.

Molly sat down once she finished serving everyone their food and began the introductions. "Cordelia, dear," she said, "you remember my eldest, Bill."

The redhead with the long hair, sparkling blue eyes, and the fang earring smiled at her. "Hey Cordy," he said with a mischievous smile. "Dumped green paint on anyone lately?"

"I was _five_!" she protested.

Bill chuckled. "Don't worry, Cordy. I won't hold it against you—much," he teased his godsister.

Cordy rolled her eyes at him and Molly smiled at them. "Yes, I daresay you remember Bill," Molly said, "and Charlie as well—"

"Why don't _I_ remember this 'alleged' green paint incident?" asked Charlie.

"Too many bludgers to the head," chorused all of his siblings and Tonks.

"Bloody gits," he muttered as he crossed his arms and slouched down into his chair.

"Right," said Molly, ignoring her moody son. "Now, the twins—that'll be Fred and George, dear—are going into their seventh year. I daresay you may remember them as well, though they would have been just born when you…left us."

"Pasty?" asked twin number one (Fred) holding out the aforementioned food.

"Pumpkin juice?" asked twin number two (George) holding out a pitcher of the drink.

"Don't take _any_ food those two offer you," interrupted the redheaded, honey brown-eyed girl. "I'm Ginny, by the way, the baby of the family." She made a face of annoyance and Cordy smiled. "I'm going into my forth year. This _git_," she reached across the bushy haired brunette girl and slapped her brother upside the head, "stuffing his face is Ron. He'll be a fifth year this year."

"Oi!" Ron exclaimed through his mouthful of food. "What was that for, Gin?"

Ginny and the brown-haired girl both rolled their eyes at him. "Ronald is a bit dense, I'm afraid," said the bushy haired girl. "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. I'm one of Ron's best friends. Are you related to Mary Evans-Potter and Harry Potter, by any chance?"

"From what I hear, yes," replied Cordy. "I've never actually _met_ them, though. James wasn't even _married_ last time I heard from him." There was a bit of an awkward silence following Cordy's statement.

Once again, Jessi was the one to break the silence. "Not that this food isn't absolutely _delicious_, Molly," she said, rubbing her protruding stomach lovingly, "but you wouldn't happen to have any peanut butter, would you? Baby's craving some again." Molly sighed, realizing that nothing was going to change the cravings of a pregnant woman (especially _this_ pregnant woman), summoned the peanut butter jar and a spoon, and passed it along to the younger witch. "Thanks, Molly," she said, digging into the aforementioned peanut butter with relish.

"So," said Sirius with a mischievous smile, "while Jess here is otherwise occupied, can I get some name suggestions for my soon-to-be-born baby girl?"

"How about Rose?" suggested Hermione.

"Jessi's forbidden any and all flower and plant names," Sirius said.

"Ooo, how about Olivia?" said Ginny.

Jessi shook her head violently. "That's apparently a no," translated Sirius.

"Desdemona," suggested Kingsley.

"Jessi said no Shakespeare."

"Mary," suggested George.

"Cassiopeia," suggested Fred.

"One, Mary's as good as my daughter and two, Cassi _is_ my daughter. That would just be too bloody confusing."

"Joan," suggested Xander.

"Too plain."

"Nzingha," suggested Bill.

"Too weird."

"Ainsley," suggested Cordy.

"Granddaughter's name."

"Hope," suggested Arthur.

"Already got a Grace," said Sirius. "Jessi said no more virtues."

"Dragon," suggested Charlie with an evil grin.

"_Hell_ no."

"Language, Sirius," snapped Molly.

"As much as I love that name, Molly, it's not a very good name for a girl," he replied.

She glared at him. "Samantha," she snapped.

"Already suggested by yours truly, got vetoed."

"Laura," suggested Remus.

"Again, already suggested and Jess said it was too plain."

"Kiki," said Ron.

"Ah—no."

"How about Andromeda?" said Tonks.

Jessi stopped eating, her spoon halfway to her mouth. "Merlin's ugly orange socks, that's bloody brilliant!" she exclaimed.

Sirius stared at his lover for a moment, completely gobsmacked. "You mean you _actually_ found a name you like?"

Jessi shrugged. "Why not?" she said. "She _is_ your favorite cousin, after all."

"You guys know I wasn't serious about that," said Tonks.

"That's 'cause _I'm_ Sirius," Sirius punned badly.

"Shut up, Siri," said Jessi, rolling her eyes at the black-haired animagus. "It's actually a brilliant suggestion, Tonks," she said. "And there's no way in _Hell_ I'm naming any kid of mine _Nymphadora_—no offense to you."

"Thank you, Jessi!" exclaimed Tonks. "Oh, and none taken."

Jessi nodded at the metamorphmagus. "Wouldn't wish a name like that on anyone."

"I think it's a lovely name," piped in Remus.

Jessi rolled her eyes at her best friend. "You would, RJ," she retorted.

"What's that supposed to mean, Sissi?" asked Remus, his amber eyes narrowing.

"If you can't figure it out on your own, then _I'm_ certainly not going to tell you."

"But Sissi—"

"Don't you 'but Sissi' me, Remus John Lupin," she snapped. "You're the one who can't see what's right in front of your bloody face, you stupid prat!"

"What—?"

"Figure it out, RJ!" she snapped. "Now, baby Andi's bloody tired so she and Mummy are going to go take a nap. _Don't_ bother us." Without another word Jessi stood up and left the room, slamming the door behind her.

"What'd she mean by that?" mused Remus.

"Not a bloody clue," shrugged Tonks. Everyone else at the table hurried to bury themselves in their food, silently screaming at the clueless werewolf and metamorphmagus who were completely and totally in love with each other—and completely clueless.

* * *

**~R&R please! It's feeds the brain and makes it happy. :)**


	18. Chapter 12: The Evans Family

**They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky...wait, wrong family...**

* * *

**Chapter 12: The Evans Family**

_**June 30, 2003**_**:** Willow had barely seen her oldest and best friend in the month since she and Xander had come to England. Within the first week of being there, Xander had discovered his birth family and was more often than not off with them somewhere leaving Willow to her own devices. Not that she begrudged him his happiness, she just missed him. At first Willow was "forced" to wander around London by herself to keep herself amused. Then, a mere six days ago, she ran into someone she had not expected to see again so soon, and in London of all places (she was thinking more like Istanbul): Oz. Over the past week the two had reconnected and spent more time alone together than they had in years. In fact, Willow was beginning to feel things that she hadn't felt in a very long time—since Tara died, at least. At first she tried to deny it, but now…she could no longer deny that she was once again falling head over heels for the stoic guitar-playing werewolf.

Today Oz and Willow had decided to take a causal stroll through the streets of London. After arguing and debating with herself the night before, Willow had finally decided to tell Oz exactly how she felt and their stroll was the perfect time to do so. She was a bit nervous, to be sure. Even though she was nearly one hundred percent certain that Oz still loved her, she just couldn't stand to have her heart broken again so soon after Tara. True, it had been over a year now since her death, but that kind of pain takes much longer to fade and even then it never truly disappears completely.

The not-quite-a-couple was strolling down the street, occasionally brushing hands, which caused Willow to blush attractively. Willow had finally worked up the courage to tell Oz exactly how she felt about him when the not-quite-a-couple was bowled over by a pair of teenage girls. "Sorry, didn't see you there," said the first girl, her mischievous blue eyes boring into Willow's emerald ones.

"Yeah, sorry mates," said the second (identical) girl, also locking her eyes on Willow.

"Mary?" the strawberry-blonde twins (for there was no doubt that was what they were) asked together. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Um, sorry," said Willow. "I think you have the wrong person. My name's not Mary, its Willow."

"Willow?" the twins (it was _quite_ obvious that that's what they were) said.

"You wouldn't happen to know an Alexander Evans…" asked twin number one.

"…or a Petunia Dursley…" asked twin number two.

"…or a Lily Potter?" they asked together.

"Um…yeah," said Willow. "They're actually my brother and sisters."

"Auntie Will!" the twins screeched, launching themselves at the shorter redheaded woman.

"Uh—do I know you?" asked Willow, frightened. Oz was waiting silently on the sidelines, poised to protect Willow should she need him to. Not that she wasn't powerful (cause she _was_), he just felt very protective of her.

"Oh, sorry," the twins said together.

"I'm Jordan Evans," said twin number one.

"I'm Taylor Evans," said twin number two.

"Alex Evans is our dad," they said together.

"Oh goddess!" exclaimed Willow, hugging the twins tight. "I haven't seen you two since you were babies! _You_ were shorter than _me_ back then, not the other way around…"

"We get that a lot," the twins said in unison, smiling mischievously.

Willow grinned at them. "So, how have you been?" she asked. "What have you two been up to?"

"Playing pranks…" said Jor.

"…causing trouble…" said Tay.

"…creating chaos..."

"…wreaking mayhem…"

"…the usual," they finished together with identical grins.

Willow laughed. "Sounds about right. How's your dad?" she asked.

"He's good," said Tay.

"He misses you," said Jor.

"He's actually in the city tomorrow."

"Here's his number. He'd love to see you again."

"Thanks," said Willow.

"Welcome, mate," the twins said together.

"Well," said Jor, "we'd love to stay and chat…"

"…but we have to meet our boyfriends…" continued Tay.

"…for a whole bloody day of 'family fun'…"

"…and other such nonsense…"

"…ta!" they finished together before taking off down the street just as quickly as before.

Willow shook her head in amusement at her nieces. "Those girls are something else," she said.

"You gonna meet your brother?" asked Oz.

"Yeah, I think I am."

**XXXX**

_**July 1, 2003**_**:** Willow was fidgeting with nervousness as she sat at a small table outside of a quaint little coffee shop in the middle of London. She was going to be meeting her brother for the first time in fifteen years in less than ten minutes and _goddess_ was she nervous.

"It's gonna be okay Willow," said Oz, reaching across the table and holding her hands in his own. "I'll be nearby if you need me, I promise."

Willow gave a small smile. "Thanks Oz," she said.

Oz gave her a genuine smile. "Anything for you," he replied.

"IthinkI'mstillinlovewithyou," Willow blurted out quickly before she could change her mind again. Oz just stared at her, unfazed. "I-I mean, I understand if you don't feel the same," Willow babbled, "and I won't hold it against you, but I can't help how I feel and I don't know that I ever stopped and—"

Oz finally silenced the petite redhead by leaning in and kissing her fiercely. "I never stopped loving you either, Willow," he said.

"Really?"

"Really. But we'll have to talk about us later—I think your brother's here."

"How—"

"He smells kinda like you. Now, I'm just gonna go inside. Call me if you need me." Oz gave Willow one more kiss before he headed inside.

"Are you Willow?" Willow looked up to see a tall, tanned, middle-aged brunette man with sparkling sapphire eyes staring at her.

"Yup. Willow's me—I mean, I'm Willow. Hey Alex."

Alex grinned and gave his baby sister a hug. "It's _so_ good to see you again, Pixie."

Willow grinned. "Goddess, it's been so long since I've been called that."

Alex chuckled. "I can imagine. May I sit?"

"Please," replied Willow, motioning to the seat that Oz had just left.

"So, Willow," began Alex, "Petunia will be joining us soon. I hope you don't mind, but she dearly wanted to see you again."

"She does?" said Willow, surprised. "I guess that's fine."

"Good," said Alex with a smile. "So…was that your boyfriend I saw leaving?"

Willow blushed bright red. "W-well, we used to date. In high school and freshman year of college, but we …broke up. Now…we just kissed for the first time in three years. We haven't had a chance to talk about it yet. I mean, I _hope_ we will, but I can't know for sure and I'm babbling now aren't I? I do that a lot, sorry. My friends call it 'Willow-babble.' Oz used to think it was cute, but that was a long time ago and I'll just be quiet now."

Alex chuckled. "I almost forgot about that," he said. "You used to do that all the time—especially when you were first learning to talk or when you got really nervous about something."

"Really?"

"Yes. It's an Evans trait. The twins did it all the time. They still do, actually."

Willow's face broke into a grin. "Do they always do the whole finishing each other's sentences thing?" she asked.

"Always," replied Alex.

"Weirdness."

"Willow?"

Willow looked up from her conversation with Alex to see a tall, bony, horse-faced woman with short brown hair and familiar brown eyes standing over her. "Tuney?" she gasped.

The woman nodded and gave a tiny smile as Willow squealed, jumped up, and gave her a hug. "It's nice to see you too, Willow," she said as Willow relinquished her hold on her.

"How have you been, Tuney?" asked Willow, sitting back down.

"I've been well, thank you," replied Petunia.

"That's good," said Willow. "So…how are my nieces and nephews doing?"

Alex's smiled faltered for a fraction of a second. "Taylor and Jordan are doing well," he replied, coving up his momentary slip. "They're starting at Oxford this fall—a year early, I might add. They both have steady boyfriends, for the most part, and steady jobs…oh, and they both made me a grandpa."

"Say what now!"

"Taylor and her boyfriend James Clotaire have twin girls, Simone and Paris. They'll be two on the twenty-fifth. And Jordan and her boyfriend Kale Bane have a son, Hale, the same age to the day as Taylor's twins, and twins girls, Lani and Nani, who're two months old this month."

"Wow, way to go gramps," teased Willow.

"Har har, very funny," grumbled Alex. "Especially since Hale and Tay's twins are only a year younger than Emmy and Matt."

"Who?" asked Willow.

"Ah, yes, you don't know," said Alex. "Ana and I had another set of twins. They'll be three in August. Emily and Matthew are their names. Then a year later we had Crystal—now she was a _complete_ surprise. We also have a son, Mark, in-between the two sets of twins. He just turned ten two weeks ago."

"Wow," said Willow. "Tell Ana I said congratulations." She then turned to Petunia and asked, "What about you, Tuney?"

"Vernon and I only have one child, our son Dudley," she replied primly. "I believe I was pregnant with him at the time of your departure from us. He's nearly fifteen now."

"Ah, yes. I remember."

"How have _you_ been?" asked Alex.

"Not too bad," Willow replied. "I made some amazing friends in Sunnydale, most of whom I'm still friends with to this day. I dated a musician from the middle of my junior year of high school to the middle of my freshman year of college. We broke up mid freshman year and I started seeing someone else. But…she got killed in an accident right in front of me just over a year ago. Now…well, after Sunnydale sank into the ground I came here with my oldest and bestest best friend and I ran into my ex again and I think we might be getting back together again."

"Willow, dear, you're babbling," said Petunia.

"Oh, sorry," she replied. "I kinda do that a lot. By the way, where's Lily and why didn't you guys write to me, like, _EVER_?"

Alex and Petunia both shifted uncomfortably at the mention of their sister, but they chose to avoid the subject for a while longer. "Willow," said Alex, "we _did_ write you, all three of us did. We wrote you all the time, up until you turned fifteen."

"Why'd you stop?"

"Ira and Sheila didn't agree with something we did," said Petunia.

"Wha—"

"We had your last name legally changed back to Evans and they couldn't get it changed back to Rosenberg no matter how hard they tried, so they forbade us to write to you anymore," explained Alex.

"But—I never got any letters from you. _Ever_. And they never told me my name got changed back—thanks for that, by the way."

"You're quite welcome, Pix," said Alex.

"I'm not surprised that your godparents withheld our letters from you," scoffed Petunia. "Mum and Dad were really the only ones who could ever stand them. Pretentious gits," she muttered darkly.

"Too true…" muttered Willow. Suddenly she realized something. "Hey," she said, "why are you two being all avoid-y about Lily?"

Alex's face fell and Tuney's turned to stone. "Willow," began Alex, "Lily and James were killed fourteen years ago."

Tears began to form in Willow's emerald huge emerald eyes. "Wh-what?"

"I'm sorry, Pixie," said Alex, rubbing her arm in comfort, "but they were killed by an evil wizard by the name of Voldemort."

"Ember? Ender? Cody?"

"Perfectly fine. Ember and Ender grew up with their Aunt Regina and Cody was adopted by a very nice family," soothed Alex.

"Lily's baby?"

Here Alex grinned. "Babies, actually," he said. "For once you were only half right. Lily and James _did_ have a son, but first came his twin sister."

"Are they okay though?" asked a teary-eyed Willow.

"Yes," Alex comforted her. "I raised Mary until she started at Hogwarts four years ago and now Petunia has both Harry _and_ Mary. You see, I was transferred to America shortly before Lily's death and we're actually only here visiting and getting the twins settled in at school; we'll be heading back at the end of August."

Willow nodded then said, "Mary and Harry—so that's why Taylor and Jordan thought I was Mary?"

"Yes," said Petunia. "She looks just like you and Lily, except she has her father's eyes."

"And Harry?"

"He looks just like James, but with yours' and Lily's eyes," said Alex.

"Oh. But they're alive and well, right?"

"Yes," both Alex and Petunia replied.

"Good." Willow stood up. "It was very nice to see you both again, but I think I need to go now," she said mechanically. "I-I think I need some time to-to process this—she was my first best friend, you know."

Alex and Petunia looked at each other. "We understand," said Alex, standing up and embracing his baby sister.

"Don't be a stranger," said Tuney, doing the same. "I still live in Surrey, if you need anything."

"Thank you," Willow replied as she watched a green-haired Oz make his way over to her, as though he had sensed her pain and her need to leave.

"You okay?" he asked as he came up to her and held her close.

"No, I'm really not," she sobbed as he led her away.


	19. Chapter 13: Full Moon at Number Twelve

**Little bit longer than usual chapter. What can I say? No real good place to break it up and make it smaller. Lots of OCs in this chapter too, but mostly as secondary/background characters.**

**Warning:** This chapter contains implications of promiscuity, but absolutely no graphics. There is a story behind this particular character's actions/words, but that will come up later.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but my OCs, which I share with my BFF and my little sister. I don't own Remus (*tear*) or Oz (*sniff*) or any other character or situation you may recognize. Joss and JK own Buffy/Angel & Harry Potter respectively.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Full Moon at Number Twelve**

_**July 12, 2003**_**:** Willow and Oz had been officially dating and slowly rebuilding both their relationship and their mutual trust since the day that Willow had met with her siblings and found out about Lily's death and they soon found themselves facing their first full moon cycle together since their early college days.

"Willow," said Oz, "I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it, Oz?" said Willow as she snuggled closer to her boyfriend.

Oz shifted slightly, the only indication that he was nervous. "You know how I left to learn to control my wolf?"

"Mm-hm."

"Well, after the accident with Tara, I found out that not transforming during the full moon would only hurt me and those I love in the long run."

"What are you saying?" asked Willow.

"It's just, the only way to stay in control of the wolf for the majority of the time is to transform during the full moon."

"I understand Oz, really I do," said Willow.

Oz kissed her lightly on the head. "Thanks, Willow," he said.

"Welcome. I love you, Oz."

"I love you too, Willow." The couple sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's presence. Oz was the one to break the silence finally. "Willow?"

"Hm?"

"You remember how I told you I was adopted?"

Willow sat up. "Did you find your family?" she asked.

Oz nodded. "I haven't met them yet, though."

"Why not?"

Oz shrugged. "Bad timing, I guess. But that wasn't my point. My family is magical, Wills, and they say I am too. They all even went to some magic school—Hog-something—"

"Hogwarts," said Willow. Oz looked at her curiously. "Lily and James went there," she explained. "I was supposed to go too, Lily promised me since I was six that I would. I even got my letter and everything, but Ira and Sheila wouldn't let me go. They hate magic."

"I'm sorry, Will."

"'Skay. So, what was your point again?"

"Hm? Oh, this werewolf I met last year wants me to join him in the fight against some evil wizard. Voldemort, I think it was."

"The one who killed my sister and James?"

Oz nodded. "That's the one. I told Remus—the werewolf—that I'd come by and meet him this moon." He paused. "I'd like you to come with me."

"Of course I'll come with you," replied Willow. "When and where?"

"In a few hours, here in London," he replied. "I have to show you the paper first. It's a spell of some sort that protects the house."

"Sure thing." Willow snuggled deeper into Oz. "Do we have to go now?"

"No."

"So we can have more snuggles and smoochies first?"

"Always."

"I love you Oz."

"I love you too Willow, so much."

**XXXX**

At a quarter to twelve, Willow and Oz stood in the middle of Grimmauld Place in London staring at the empty spot between Number Eleven and Number Thirteen. "You sure it's here?" asked Willow. She could literally _feel_ the dark magic from the spot seeping into her bones. Oz nodded and handed her a piece of paper. Willow read it and jumped, giving a small squeak, as Number Twelve Grimmauld Place appeared in the previously empty spot. "Holey macaroni and cheese!" she exclaimed. Oz made an expression of amusement at this. "So this is the place, then?"

Oz nodded. "Let's go knock, shall we?" he said, holding out his hand to her. She took it and followed him up the steps to the door.

Oz lifted his black-finger nailed hand and knocked firmly on the obsidian door. A brief shriek could be heard through the door followed by hoarse yelling. Finally the door creaked open revealing a tall black woman with short, magenta colored hair. "Yes?" she said, glancing down at them.

"I'm here to see Remus Lupin," said Oz. "He asked me to come by today."

"Of course," said the woman, ushering them into the house. "Quiet in the hallway, please—we don't want to wake Mrs. Black." Oz nodded and he and Willow followed the woman into the dining room. "You two can relax here. Remus should be back shortly," the magenta-haired woman said.

"Thank you," said Willow with a half-hearted smile, still processing the news of her sister's death all these days later. The woman nodded and left the room, leaving Oz and Willow sitting alone in the rather gloomy room.

"It's kinda creepy here," whispered Willow, looking around the dimly lit room.

"Yeah."

"How long do you think we'll have to wait?"

Oz shrugged. "Dunno." Willow sighed. Sensing his mate was uncomfortable, Oz pulled her to him and held her close. Felling safe in his strong arms, Willow closed her eyes and snuggled closer.

As the newly reunited couple sat in silence, drinking in each others presence as a flower drinks in the rays of the sun, they were joined in the dining room by a large, black man with a single gold hoop in his left ear. "Long time, no see," said Oz.

Kingsley started and stared at the redheaded couple sitting at the table. He hadn't noticed them before, but now that he did he recognized the spiky-haired young man in front of him. "Oz," he said. "What brings you here?"

Oz shrugged. "Meeting someone."

"Finally meeting your family, eh? Your mum'll be thrilled."

Oz started. "They're _here_?"

"Isn't that why _you're_ here?" asked Kingsley, puzzled.

Oz shook his head. "I'm here to meet a friend, actually."

"Oz," said Willow, "since Sammy Jackson here says your family's here, why don't you go ahead and meet them while we wait? Sorry, 'bout the nickname, by the way."

"It's quite alright," said Kingsley with a smile. "I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Willow Rosen—_Evans_, sorry. Willow Evans. I'm Oz's girlfriend."

"Pleasure to meet you Miss Evans."

"Same to you, Mr. Shacklebolt. And it's Willow."

"Kingsley, please. Mr. Shacklebolt was my father."

"Alright, Kingsley."

"So, Oz, would you like to meet your parents now?" asked Kingsley.

Oz looked to Willow. "I think you should, Oz," she said, holding his hand. "It'll be good for you."

Oz nodded in affirmation. "Alright then," said Kingsley. "Why don't I go get them? You two just sit tight, ya?"

As Kingsley left the room, Willow turned to Oz and asked, "Do you want me to stay? 'Cause I can stay if you want me to. Or I can leave. Do you want me to leave? I'll understand, you know. I'll just leave now, 'cause of _course_ you want me to—" Willow was shut up as Oz kissed her fiercely on the mouth.

"Stay," he said, "please."

Willow grinned brightly at him. "Okay."

Oz smiled back at her. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, Oz."

"You're the best."

"And don't you forget it, mister," she teased.

Oz chuckled as Kingsley reentered the room. "You ready to meet your parents?" he asked.

Oz nodded a lot more calmly than he actually felt. "He's ready," Willow told Kingsley.

Kingsley smiled at the younger man. "Don't worry, they'll love you," he reassured Oz. He then turned to the door to the kitchen and said, "He's ready now. You can come on out."

Oz, still clutching tightly to Willow's hand, and Willow stood up to face the redheaded couple that had just stepped into the room. Looking at Oz's parents was almost like looking at a future version of themselves. Oz's father was a tall, thin, kindly-looking man with clear blue eyes that sparkled with laughter. He was balding and what red hair remained was lightly peppered with grey. He, like his wife, had a multitude of freckles peppering his ivory skin and his face was careworn, but still retained an air of youth and playfulness about it. Oz's mother was a short, pleasantly plump, very motherly-looking woman whose short red waves were only slightly peppered with grey. Her kind, honey-brown eyes were set in her love-filled face as she stared longingly at her long-lost son.

"Oz," said Kingsley, interrupting their 'staring contest,' "I'd like you to meet your parents, Molly and Arthur Weasley. Molly, Arthur, meet your son Daniel—Oz, sorry—and his girlfriend, Willow Evans."

Willow, seeing that Oz was still trying to compose himself, said, "It's wonderful to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Oz has been looking for you for so long."

"Please, dear," said Molly as Kingsley quietly left the room, "call us Molly and Arthur."

"Alright," said Willow, "as long as you call me Willow, none of this 'Miss Evans' stuff."

Arthur chuckled. "I think we can do that, Willow," he said. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Thank you," said Willow before elbowing her lycanthropic boyfriend in the ribs. "Oz, don't you have anything to say?" she prodded.

"Hey," the redheaded werewolf said.

That one simple word jerked Molly out of her statue-like silence. She burst out sobbing and rushed over to Oz, pulling him into a 'Mrs. Weasley hug' and holding him tightly to her as if she was afraid he would disappear if she let go. "Oh, my baby!" she sobbed loudly as she clung to her second-born son.

"It's okay, Mum," Oz said, patting her back soothingly.

"Molly," said Arthur, amusement in his voice, "let the poor boy go before you hug him to death."

"Oh," sniffed Molly, calming down a bit, "I'm sorry Daniel."

"'Salright, Mum," he said with a slight grin.

"Welcome back son," said Arthur, smiling, as he pulled Oz into a manly hug.

"Thanks Dad," said Oz with a small smile as Arthur too let him go.

Molly then proceeded to give Willow a hug too. "Thank you for bringing Daniel back to us, dear," she said.

Willow blushed, embarrassed. "Please, Molly, I really didn't _do_ anything," she protested.

"Nonsense," said Molly, brushing the younger witch off. "You've done plenty just by staying by his side and supporting him. I can see how much you two care about each other." Willow blushed again and Oz smiled at her.

Arthur smiled at them and said, "Why don't the four of us sit down and talk for a bit, eh? Molly, love, would you fetch us some tea please?"

"Of course, darling," replied Molly, summoning four teacups and a teakettle.

Willow gaped in awe. "That's so cool, Molly!" she said in excitement. "What spell is that?"

"It's just a simple _Accio_, dear. A summoning charm."

"Are you a muggle, then?" asked Arthur.

Willow shook her head. "No," she said, "I'm muggleborn. My big sister told me I was a witch when I was six. She was one too. I figured out that I was magical when I was four, though. I kinda overheard my sister talking to my parents about it. I started reading my sister's old schoolbooks as soon as she officially told me and soon after that I could control my accidental magic. Which would technically be a misnomer, 'cause if you do it on purpose it's not actually accidental, now is it? And I'm babbling again, aren't I?" Oz nodded in affirmation. "Right. Well, anyway, I stopped using magic when I was seven 'cause my guardians hated it and I didn't start practicing again till I was seventeen. I've been practicing pretty much ever since then, though."

"Didn't you go to a magic school, dear?" asked Molly.

Willow shook her head. "No," she said. "I got my Hogwarts letter when I was eleven, just like my sister promised, but my guardians wouldn't let me go."

"They don't like magic, I take it," said Arthur.

"Exactly," said Willow. "They're horrible about it. Even my magic-hating sister Tuney—er, Petunia—thinks they go over the top with it. I remember _that_ message. When she found out they were going to let me go untrained she chewed them out pretty bad over the phone. I think that's the _only_ time she's _ever_ defended magic."

"Wait," said Molly, "you're surname's Evans, correct?"

"That's me."

"So, would your sister happen to be one Petunia Dursley?" Willow could hear the disgust in Molly's voice.

"She is," said Willow. Before Molly could say anything more, Willow held up her hand and added, "If you know her, I'm sure you think she's just some awful bigoted person, but she's really not all that bad. She's always been there for me, even with the whole witchy thing. True, she became more distant after she found out, but she's never outright abandoned me. She's hurting, is all. Tuney and Lily were very close, so I'm told, before Lily went off to Hogwarts, and Tuney felt left out and alone when she left. By that time Alex was already in college and our parents were desperately trying to have another child—this was long before I was born. Tuney just felt jealous 'cause she was left behind and I think she may have felt a bit ignored too."

"Hm," said Molly. "I still don't much care for that woman."

"I respect that," said Willow, "but I can't help that I feel differently. I've only seen her once since I was seven, but I _can_ see that she has grown colder. I think she's never truly gotten over Lily's death. Or there could be something that happened in the year between when I left and when she died 'cause Tuney and Lily were still on semi-speaking terms when I was sent away."

Oz, seeing that this particular conversation wasn't going to end well, decided to breach a new subject. "So Dad," he said, "what's your opinion on werewolves?"

"They're just the same as everyone else except for three nights out of the month, why? Do you have something against them, son?" asked Arthur, quirking his eyebrow, as he and Molly stared intently at Oz.

Willow took Oz's hand. "Not particularly, no," replied Oz.

"Oh, that's good," said Arthur, relaxing a bit. "Sorry about that. We have a close friend who's a werewolf. Why did you want to know, anyway?"

Oz looked his parents straight in the eye, took a chance, and said, "I'm a werewolf."

"Oh my poor baby!" Molly cried, launching herself at her shortest (yes, he was without a doubt _the_ shortest) son and hugging him tight.

"When did it happen?" asked Arthur.

"I was eighteen," he replied as he patted his mother on the back to comfort her.

"How?" asked Molly, letting go of her son, wiping her eyes dry, and staring at him intently.

"I was babysitting my cousin Jordy," he explained. "Apparently he doesn't like to be tickled." Oz held up his right index finger to show the tiny scar.

"But if he wasn't transformed—" began Arthur.

"Apparently if you're born a werewolf you don't have to be transformed to infect someone else," Oz explained. "When I called my Aunt Maureen, she told me that she got pregnant with Jordy one summer she spent here in England. She didn't find out till after he was born that Fenrir was a werewolf. Her mum was a witch, so she wasn't left in the dark. Gramma Nellie had to explain it to her after Jordy's first full moon. She had never told Aunt Maureen or Nancy—my adopted mum—about magic because neither of them had ever shown any."

"Wair—Fenrir?" said Arthur. "Fenrir _Greyback_?"

"I think so, why?"

Arthur and Molly exchanged a fearful glance. "Fenrir Greyback is _the_ most vicious werewolf there is," explained Molly. "He delights in biting small children, especially those whose parents have displeased him in some way, and raising them to hate humans."

"He's sided with You-Know-Who—er, _V-Voldemort_—and he uses the fear he inspires in others along with his own influence over the werewolf population to turn as many werewolves as possible against humans and make them think that You-Know-Who is the solution to their problems."

"Huh," said Oz.

"It's such a shame," sighed Molly, "but there's only so much that Remus can do—he's just one man, after all."

Just then the magenta-haired witch who had answered the door popped her head in the room. "Molly," she said, "Remus just fire-called. He said they're running a bit late. Something about Finn and peanut butter, he started ranting just as the twins started fighting, so I didn't quite catch what he was talking about."

"Thank you, Mya," said Molly, smiling at the tall black woman. "Is there anything else you needed?"

Mya shuffled a bit. "Actually, yes," she said. "I just got a call from work—they said something about an unidentified charm—and I _really_ need someone to watch Charli and CJ for me."

"It's not a problem, dear," said Molly waving her off. "I'm sure Ginny and Hermione will be up to it—and I'll be here to help too, of course."

"Thank you _so_ much, Molly," said Mya. "Tell the girls thank you too. Just _please_ make sure no one charms the twins hair again. I _still_ haven't figured out what Chloe did to them and herself last summer, and _I'm_ a charms expert!"

"Their hair is _still_ red?" asked Molly with a frown.

Mya nodded. "And the top layer of Chloe's is still blue," she added. "Sadly enough, Mum and Dad Chance still haven't even noticed and Chloe's not even in school yet, so they don't even have the excuse of her being away most of the year for their un-perceptiveness."

Molly pursed her lips and frowned disapprovingly at the mention of Mya's in-laws. "They've changed so much since Chase's death," she said.

Mya's mocha eyes took on a saddened look. "So have Bill and I, Mum Weasley," she said. "He was my _husband_, after all, and Bill's best friend. Chandler, Charisma, and Chloe have all changed too. I just thank Merlin that our babies are still to young to truly understand what happened to their daddy." She glanced over quickly at the clock on the wall. "Oh _shit_!" she exclaimed. "Sorry, Mum Weasley, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later. Thanks again for the help! Bye!" Mya turned on the spot and disapparated from Number Twelve with a loud CRACK.

"I'm sorry dears," said Molly, standing up, "but we'll have to cut our conversation short. I need to let Hermione and Ginny know that they are responsible for Charli and Chase this afternoon."

"Of course, Molly," said Willow. "Can I meet them? How old are they? Are Charli and Chase two boys or a boy and a girl? I absolutely _adore_ little kids!"

"Will, one question at a time, baby," said Oz, placing his hand on her arm.

"Oh, right. Sorry Molly."

"It's quite alright, dear," assured the ever-kindly Mrs. Weasley. "Charli and Chase Jr_._ are five, Charli's a girl and Chase is, of course, a boy, and of _course_ you can meet them. Later, though, after you've talked with Remus. Speaking of—Arthur, when Remus and the rest return, please make sure they all have a good meal—_especially_ Remus and Jessica. Oh, and do _not_ let Jessica eat _only_ peanut butter again. She has a baby to take care of, after all."

"Yes dear," replied Arthur.

"Good. Now, I'm going to go check on the children. Willow, Daniel, don't let Arthur bother you too much about muggle things. I'll be back later." With one last warning glare at her muggle-loving husband, Molly left the dining room.

"So…who was the pink-haired lady?" asked Oz, breaking the semi-awkward silence.

"Who, Mya?" said Arthur. "Oh, she's your brother's Bill's close friend and his late best friend's widow. Mya Chance is a charms expert, the best Gringotts, the wizarding bank, has seen in decades."

"She seems nice," commented Willow.

"Oh, she is," agreed Arthur. "She's a strong woman, our Mya. She and Chase were Hogwarts sweethearts, much like Molly and I. They married right after Chase graduated—Mya was a year behind him and Bill—and had their twins shortly thereafter. Then three years ago Chase was killed by a rogue Death Eater—one of You-Know-Who's followers—in Egypt as he was coming home from Gringotts one night. Mya was devastated and Bill blamed himself because he had decided to work late that night instead of heading home with Chase as usual. But Mya persevered. She's been doing a bloody amazing job of raising her twins, not to mention her brother-in-law and two sister-in-laws since, and of course Bill helps her as much as he can."

"Did someone say my name?"

Arthur grinned and Willow and Oz whirled around to see a tall redheaded man sporting a fang earring. He stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, his long hair pulled back in a low ponytail, and a grin plastered on his tanned and freckled face. "Hello Bill," said Arthur, greeting his eldest son. "I was just telling this fine young couple here about Mya."

Still grinning like mad, Bill sauntered over and casually slid into an empty chair. "Ah yes," he said. "She's a bloody amazing woman, that one. I actually just ran into her as I was leaving Gringotts. She was chatting up her brothers when I saw her. Kai just wanted her attention—he'll be four next month, you know—but I think Lee was trying to convince her to bring him back here with her tonight so that he could visit with Fred and George."

"That's _just_ what we need," groaned Arthur, "Lee Jordan reunited with his partners in crime in a confined space. Your mum'll positively _murder_ me if that happens."

"Oh, don't worry Dad," said Bill with a grin, stretching his lanky frame and locking his hands behind his head, "I'm pretty sure she shot that idea down bloody quick."

"Good," said Arthur, relieved.

"So—I'm Bill Weasley, curse breaker for Gringotts," he said, introducing himself to Willow and Oz. "You are?"

"I'm Willow Evans," said Willow, "Wiccan-witch extraordinaire."

"Oz," said Oz simply.

"Just Oz?" teased Bill.

"Bill, this is your brother Daniel," said Arthur.

Bill's bright blue eyes widened in surprise. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, grinning like mad. "It's absolutely _smashing_ to meet you, mate."

"You too," said Oz, a hint of a smile on his pale, lightly-freckled face. "So you'd be my big brother then?"

"Yup. I'm the oldest Weasley—sadly though, not the tallest. _That_ particular honor currently belongs to the twin terrors—er, I mean to Fred and George."

"Ah. I'm pretty sure I'm the shortest," said Oz.

"Oh really? Charlie's pretty damn short, you know."

"Only compared to you, Ron, and the twins," said Arthur.

"I'm five four," said Oz. "Even Willow's taller than me."

"Oh. You're right, you _are_ the shortest," said Bill. "You're even shorter than Gin. Sorry mate."

"'Skay. I'm used to it," Oz said with a shrug. "I've resigned myself to being the stoic, short, werewolf brother."

"Wait, you're a werewolf?" said Bill.

"For five years now."

"Oh."

"It's no big; I've accepted the wolf as part of who I am now."

"Well, that's good…"

Suddenly there was a great clamor of noise from the front parlor. "Sounds like they're back," said Arthur wryly as the sound of bickering grew louder and closer.

"Sirius, you _sodding_ son of a bitch, get your pasty white arse back here _right now_!"

"Overreacting? _I'm_ overreacting?"

"What the hell was _that_ all about, doofus?!"

"So then I said 'no, I'm not seeing anyone'…"

"…and I said 'what makes you think she'd want _you_?'…"

"Seriously, you need to learn to control your violent impulses, Mel."

"Well, forgive me for having _thoughts_, oh mighty bitch queen!"

"Like hell I will, you crazy bint! You're gonna bloody _murder_ me!"

"C'mon Moonlet, let's leave these crazies alone," said Remus as he slipped into the dining room with a small, yet strangely tall, boy who looked like a darker version of a young Remus, right down to the sickliness.

The boy, who looked about seven but for his height, shook his shaggy chestnut brown hair out of his large, amber eyes and stared mournfully at Remus with said heart melting eyes. "Daddy, is Mummy mad at me?" he asked.

"Of _course_ not, Moonlet," said Remus, bending down to look his son in the eyes. "Why on _earth_ would you think that?"

Moonlet stared down at his shoes and mumbled, "Mummy's been mad since she came back from the Ministry this morning." He looked up and stared worriedly at his father. "Am I not allowed to go to Hogwarts after all?" he asked.

Remus raised his eyebrow at the small boy. "Why on earth would you think that, Finn?" he asked. "Of _course_ you're going to Hogwarts, son."

"Really?"

"Really, really."

Finn gave a squeal of delight and launched himself at Remus, nearly knocking him over in the process. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthan kyou!" he exclaimed.

Remus chuckled. "You are _quite_ welcome, Moonlet, though I had little to do with it. You should thank your mother for this one. Now, go sit down and have something to eat while we wait for Sir and your sisters to stop bickering amongst themselves."

"Yes Daddy," replied Finn.

Remus chuckled and gave his son a big hug. As he straightened up, he finally noticed that he and Finn were not alone in the room. "Hello Arthur," he said, glancing at Willow and Oz. "I didn't realize we had guests."

Arthur chuckled. "Apparently you're not the only one," he said, gesturing to the hallway where they could still hear yelling and cursing ("Sirius Orion Black, you _sodding_ bastard, _you_ are a _complete_ git!"—"Bloody hell, woman, give your damn trap a rest, will ya!").

"Touché, Arthur," said Remus. He then turned his attention to Willow and Oz and said, "I apologize for my, er, _friends_—and I _do_ use that term quite loosely at the moment. I'm afraid Sirius doesn't get out much these days _and_ he's gotten Jessica pregnant, so neither one is very pleasant to be around at the moment." He, Oz, and Finn all flinched simultaneously as the not-so-far off shriek of Mrs. Black joined the cacophony of noise in The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

"It's no problem," said Willow as she rubbed Oz's back soothingly. "I'm Willow Evans, by the way."

"Remus Lupin."

"Oh! You're the one Oz came here to see! Oz, Oz—he's here!"

"Calm down, baby," said Oz. "I can see that."

"You came to see—" began Remus.

"Wait!" interrupted Willow. "Remus _Lupin_?"

"Yes, that's my name."

"Do you by any chance have twins named Ember and Ender?"

"Well, yes, but how did you—"

Willow squealed in delight. "Oh goddess!" she exclaimed. "How are they? I haven't seen them since they were nine months old!"

"And you would be—?"

"Willow Evans, their aunt. Lily is—_was_—my sister."

Remus's amber eyes went wide. "_Willow?!_ My goodness, it's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Yes, yes it has. Are they doing well?"

"Quite well, yes. They're seventeen now and going into their last year at Hogwarts. They should be coming by in a week or two, actually."

"Well, hopefully I'll get to see them then," said Willow. "But I'm bogarting your time now—Oz is the one who came to see you, after all."

"Yes, yes. Oz, was it?" Remus said, turning his attention to the redheaded man sitting beside Willow.

Oz nodded in affirmative. "Oz Weasley, I guess," he said.

Remus raised his eyebrow in surprise. "Weasley?" he asked.

"I'm his long-lost son," he said, motioning to Arthur. "My name's actually Daniel, but I just go by Oz."

Remus suddenly realized why Oz looked and smelled so familiar. "You're that werewolf I met in Devon last year," he stated.

"Yup," replied Oz. "I remembered your offer and after what I've heard happened to Willow's family, I'm more than willing to do whatever I can to help."

Remus gave Oz a genuine smile. "I'm very pleased to head that," he said. "I'll inform Albus tomorrow and we will arrange for your induction as soon as possible—yours too, if you'd like, Willow."

"Induction in what?" asked Willow.

"The Order of the Phoenix," explained Arthur. "It's an organization headed by Albus Dumbledore that is dedicated to the fight against You-Know-Who."

"I'm definitely in then," said Willow. "That son of a bitch killed my big sister."

"Well said, Willow," said Remus, "but I would be ever so grateful if you would please refrain from using such language in the presence of my eleven-year-old son. He gets enough of _that_ from his mother."

"Oh!" exclaimed Willow. "I'm _so_ sorry! I didn't mean—I didn't realize I was so loud!"

"You weren't," spoke up Finn. "I'm a werewolf, like my daddy."

"Oh, well, I still shouldn't have said that—er, sorry, I don't know your name."

"Finn Lupin, Miss Evans. It's very nice to meet you."

"Oh! Such a polite little boy! You can call me Willow, if you'd like, Finn."

"Okay, Willow," he said with a smile, glad to have found someone outside of his family who didn't care that he was a werewolf.

"And I really _am_ sorry about before," said Willow.

"It's alright, Willow," Finn insisted. "Mummy says _much_ worse all the time. So does Uncle Padfoot and Liana and Mel and Sir and Jasson and—"

Remus reached over and covered his son's mouth, cutting him off. "That's enough of that, Finn," he said, blushing.

"Yes Daddy," he said as Remus let him go.

"Good. Now, as soon as Sir and your sisters get in here, we need to take our potion. Do you take Wolfsbane, Oz?"

"What's that?" asked Oz and Willow together.

"Well, Wolfsbane is a fairly recent discovery. It's a potion that, when taken the week preceding the full moon, allows a werewolf to keep his or her mind during the transformation."

Oz glanced at Willow. "That sounds much better than other remedies I've found," he said. "Would it actually do anything if I took it tonight?"

Remus shrugged. "It might, but then again it might not. Since you've never taken it before, there's no way to say for certain if it will work or not. You could try it, though. The worst that could happen is that you will transform as usual and—if you chose to stay here—Sirius and I will be able to prevent you from hurting anyone if it doesn't take."

Oz looked at Willow. "You should try it, Oz," said Willow. "It could be good for you."

Oz nodded once. "Okay, I'll do it."

Remus smiled. "Good choice, Oz. Don't worry," he added, placing a gentle hand on the younger wolf's shoulder, "you won't be alone tonight."

"Yeah," piped in Finn. "Calli and Cleo are transforming with us tonight and Uncle Padfoot _always_ stays with us too. Is Mummy staying with us tonight, Daddy?"

Remus shook his head, his graying sandy-brown hair falling into his eyes as he did so. "No cub," he said. "Mummy can't come again till she has the baby. We don't want baby Andi getting hurt, now do we?"

"No," huffed the eleven-year-old werewolf, pouting as he sank down into his seat.

"I'm sorry son," Remus said, "but that's just the way it has to be. Besides, once you're off to Hogwarts, she won't be able to be with you either. However, maybe, if you ask him nicely, Sir will join us tonight."

Finn's amber eyes lit up at the thought. "He'll be Midnight for me?" he asked.

"If you ask nice enough, maybe I will," said a new voice from the doorway.

"Sir!" squealed Finn, launching himself at his black-haired half-brother. "Please, please, please, _please_ stay! _Please!_"

Sir chuckled and ruffled Finn's shaggy hair. "Sure I'll stay, squirt," he said.

"And I'm sure a certain blonde daughter of mine has absolutely _nothing_ to do with this decision of yours, does she Sirius?" said Remus with a raise of his eyebrow.

Sir averted his grey eyes and ran his tanned hand through his short, spiky hair. "Well," he admitted, "she may have _something_ to do with it."

"That's what I thought."

"Sorry Uncle Moony," he said with a lopsided grin, "I can't help it; your daughter's _hot_! She's a bloody _goddess_, she is!"

Remus closed his eyes and turned his face to the ceiling. "I don't need to hear anything more about you and my daughter, Sirius," he said.

"What about Sir and Cleo?" asked the tall girl who had just walked into the room. She had wavy dark brown (almost black) hair that fell down to her waist and her big chocolate eyes were flecked with grey. She wore low rise, hip-hugging blue jeans, black heeled boots, and a bright orange, low-cut vest-shirt that brought out the honey tint in her tanned skin beautifully.

"Hello again, Melody," said Remus. "Sirius and I were just discussing how I _don't_ want to know what he does with my daughter when I'm not around."

"_Please_, Uncle Moony," scoffed Mel, rolling her eyes, "_everyone_ knows what those two do when they're alone. I mean, Jo's, what, two now and Cleo's gonna pop out another sprog any day now—"

"I'd rather remain in denial, thank you," said Remus, interrupting Mel's tirade.

"I hear the weather's nice there," Mel said.

"Mel?"

"Yes, Uncle Moony?"

"Do shut up."

Mel rolled her eyes. "It's _so_ your time of the month."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"See!"

Remus just rolled his eyes and decided to ignore his "niece" for the time being. He was in luck because just then in walked his identical twin daughters, Callista and Cleopatra (who was as large as a house because of the baby), their long, silver-blonde hair billowing behind them in some invisible breeze and their mysterious amber eyes staring right at him.

"Good evening Daddy…" said Calli.

"…you're looking particularly stressed tonight…" said Cleo.

"…was it perhaps…"

"…something dear Melody…"

"…has said to you concerning…"

"…my relationship with dear Sirius?"

Remus rolled his eyes at his unnaturally un-hormonal pregnant daughter and her twin. Even transforming into a raging beast three nights out of every month didn't phase them and to be quite frank it got on his nerves that they could be so calm and collected at this time of the month while he and Finn were reduced to ill-tempered, childish behavior. "I'd rather not talk about it," he said shortly.

"Alright Daddy…"

"…as you wish."

"Who are your lovely new friends, Daddy?"

"One is a werewolf, the other his mate."

Willow blushed at that. She had suspected as much, but Oz hadn't yet told her for sure. "I meant to tell you earlier, baby," Oz whispered in her ear, "but I wasn't sure how you felt. All I want is for you to be happy, Willow. Even if that means you're with someone who's not me." Okay, so now he had.

Willow smiled lovingly at her boyfriend and kissed him deeply. "I love you Oz," she whispered. "You're my one and only. To be honest, I was kinda suspecting it was something like this, but I figured you'd tell me when you were ready. I am curious though—how and when—"

"Did it happen? It was during freshman year, before the whole Veruca thing. We, er, _marked_ each other when we were having sex."

"But I'm not—"

Oz shook his head. "No. I checked it out, and for some strange reason, a mating mark doesn't infect a non-lycanthropic mate with lycanthropy, even with a born werewolf. Besides, it's not like I was transformed when we did it. And anyway, it's some whole magical-mystical thing—the books weren't really clear on that point."

"Oh, okay," said Willow. "Well, now that we've got that cleared up, I'm Willow Evans," she said cheerfully to the newcomers, "and this is Oz Weasley, my boyfriend."

"Pleasure to meet you…"

"…Willow Evans and Oz Weasley…"

"…I am Callista Lupin, soon to be Callista Niles…"

"…and I am Cleopatra Lupin."

"Sirius Black Martini, rising sixth year," threw in the black haired boy. "I'm Cleo's boyfriend. And this lovely lady," he added, gesturing to the shorter (by an inch) brunette woman beside him, "is my big sister and best friend Melody Black, recent Hogwarts graduate."

"Hey," she said by way of greeting.

"Nice to meet you," said Willow at the same time that Oz said, "Hey."

Mel was staring intently at Oz, like a huntress stalking her prey. "You wanna shag me?" she said suddenly.

"Melody Kathleen Black!" snapped Sirius, his face a lovely shade of lobster red. "That is _completely_ inappropriate, not to mention _unbelievably_ rude!"

"Sorry," she grumbled, not sounding sorry at all. "It's just I haven't had a decent shag since last Tuesday."

Sir stared at his favorite sister incredulously. "You have an eleven-day old son at home Mel," he said. "Are you _trying_ to get yourself pregnant again?" Mel just shrugged. "And you can't just go around propositioning guys you've just met for sex!"

"It worked at Hogwarts," she said flatly, as if there were absolutely no problem with doing so.

Sir rolled his eyes at her. "I'm _so_ sorry," he apologized to Willow and Oz. "I'm afraid Mel has some _major issues_—please excuse her. I'm still working on training her on what is and isn't appropriate to say to people —she gets it from our mum, you see. She never learned either."

"'Salright," said Oz, shrugging the whole thing off. "I'm perfectly happy with my Willow, though."

Willow smiled brightly at her mate. "You're so sweet, Oz," she said. Oz just smiled back at her and kissed the top of her head.

Mel rolled her eyes. "Ugh," she groaned, "I'm surrounded by lovey-dovey couples."

"Melody," said Remus, "that's _quite_ enough. No more talk of s-e-x in front of the child."

"He's old enough for it," said Melody, all emotion gone from her voice.

"He's only eleven, Mel."

"So?"

Remus glared at the brown-haired beauty who had sometimes been called the Heartbreaker of Hogwarts (and, in less kindly circles, the Whore of Hogwarts). "Just stop, alright," he barked, his feral amber eyes flashing dangerously.

"Whatever, Uncle Moony," Mel said emotionlessly as she rolled her eyes.

Remus was spared from having to think of a comeback by the arrival of two _very_ loud, bickering couples: Sirius-and-Jessi and Xander-and-Cordy.

"Shut your fucking mouth you bloody wanker! There's no way in _hell_ you're getting some tonight!"

"Oh, like _you're_ one to talk, mister demon-magnet!"

"I'll say whatever the bloody hell I _want_ to say, you crazy bint!"

"What the hell's _that_ supposed to mean, your queenliness?!"

Remus cleared his throat loudly. "In case you _children_ were unaware, we have guests and small children here, though the actual children are acting _far_ more mature than you four are. Please refrain from using such language in their presence."

Four guilty faces turned to the floor. "Sorry RJ/Remus/Moony/Remy," they chorused.

"Thank you," said Remus. "Now, everyone _sit down_ _and shut the hell up_!" Hearing the slight growl in the alpha wolf's voice, Jessi, Sirius, Xander, Cordy, Sir, Mel, Calli, and Cleo all quickly complied and sat down silently at the table. "Good," said Remus, his patience by now completely gone. "Now Mel, I believe you have the Wolfsbane for us, correct?"

"Aye, aye, mon cap-i-tan," she said.

"_Really_ not a good time Mellie," whispered Sir.

Mel just rolled her eyes. "Whatever Sir," she said. She reached into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out a tiny cauldron. "_Engorgio_," she muttered and the cauldron grew to normal size. "There should be enough there for one extra wolf," she said. "Can I go now?"

"Yes you may, Melody. Thank you," said Remus. Mel nodded awkwardly and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

After Mel left, Sir dished out the potion into five separate non-silver goblets and handed them to the werewolves. "Just to warn you," said Remus to Oz, "it tastes rather disgusting, but there's really nothing to do about that."

Oz nodded and downed the potion quickly. He shuddered as he swallowed. Remus wasn't joking; it was the nastiest thing he'd ever tasted.

"You good baby?" Willow asked

Oz nodded. "Go see him, Wills; I know you want to."

Willow gave Oz a quick peck on the cheek and stood up, walking over to Xander, who was currently locked in a staring contest with Cordelia. Tapping his shoulder on his blind side and causing him to break their staring contest ("Hah! Take _that_, Tonks! I win!"), Willow scowled playfully at her oldest and bestest friend and teased, "Some Xander-shaped friend _you_ are, abandoning your bestest best bud to big bad London and keeping her out of the loop. That right there goes against the bestest best friend code of 1989."

Upon hearing her voice, Xander grinned and jumped up from his seat, crushing the petite redhead in a ginormous Xander hug. "Wills!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

"Having—trouble—breathing—Xander!"

"Oops. Sorry Wills," Xander said, letting go of Willow so that she could get some much-needed oxygen. "So…what _are_ you doing here, Wills?"

"I'm here with Oz, actually."

"_Oz_-Oz? As in ex-_boyfriend_ Oz?"

"No," said Cordy. "Another short werewolf named Oz. God Xander, what do you _think_? By the way, it's _great_ to see you two again, Willow, Oz."

"Same," said Oz.

"Oh, right. Hi Cordy," said Willow. "Glad to see you up and about and not all comatose."

"You and me both."

Willow laughed and went to give Cordy a hug. "I'm glad you're better," she said. "I gotta say, though, this is the _last_ place I'd ever expect to run into you. This place reeks of dark magic, by the way. Any particular reason for that?"

Sirius gave a bark-like laugh. "Welcome to The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, Evans," he said.

"Willow, my name's Willow."

Sirius flashed her a charming smile. "Sure thing, _Willow_. Anyway, this is my family's home. The Blacks are notorious dark wizards, which would be why I left them in the first place. I'm Sirius Black, by the way."

"I thought _he_ was Sirius Black," said Willow, confused, pointing at Sir.

Sirius let out another bark-like laugh. "_He's_ Sirius Black _Martini_, my son—"

"—and mine. I'm Jessi Martini. I'm Finn's mum too," said the enormously pregnant, honey-skinned brunette.

"Yeah, we get it, Jessi," said Cordy rolling her chocolate eyes. "You get around."

"I do not!" protested Jessi. "I only have kids with—" she paused to count on her long, slender fingers—"four different men. Mostly just Sirius, though."

"Whatever, Jess," said Cordy, rolling her eyes again. "Anyway, I'm actually here with my cousin," she said, turning the conversation back to the original topic.

"Cousin?" said Willow.

"Yup. Remy here's my cousin. I actually came looking for my brother, but apparently Jamie's long dead."

"Jamie?"

"Yup. James Potter. Did I mention that my last name's actually Potter, not Chase?"

"No, you actually left that part out. You know, I had a brother-in-law named James Potter."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Weird right?"

"Cordelia, Willow, you're talking about the same person," said Remus tiredly, yet still managing to smile slyly at them. "Just thought you might like to know."

"Were you supposed to go to Hogwhatchamacallit too?" interrupted Xander.

"HOGWARTS!" yelled ever other person in the room.

"Jeez! Sorry," said Xander. "Gang up on the one-eyed guy, why don't you?"

Cordy rolled her eyes at him. "Give it a rest, Xander," she said. "There's only so many times you can pull the 'woe is me, I lost my eye' card."

Xander shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

"That it was, cousin mine," said Sirius.

"Whoa, whoa—back up here. Sirius is your _cousin_?" said Willow. "When'd this happen?"

"Long before I was born," joked Xander. Seeing Will's infamous resolve-face, he amended, "I found out after I met my parents and my twin sister." Jessi smirked at how Remus's pale face went red at the mere mention of the pink-haired auror.

"So," said Willow, "let me get this straight: Cordy's a Potter and she's related to Remus, Xander's a Tonks and he's related to Sirius, I'm an Evans and I'm related to James Potter through marriage, and Oz is a Weasley."

"Oz is a _Weasley_?!" exclaimed Cordy and Xander.

"Did I not mention that?" said Oz, raising his eyebrow.

"No, you really didn't," said Cordy. "Welcome to the family, _godbrother_," she teased.

"Don't worry, Oz," said Bill, clapping his little brother on the shoulder, "at least she didn't dump green paint on _you_."

"I was _five_!" protested Cordy as the rest of the room (minus Oz) burst into laughter. Oz simply smiled. "I hate you, Bill," she huffed.

"Love you too, 'sis,'" he said with a smirk.

"I'm _so_ getting you back for this."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe. What're you gonna do about it?"

"Well, as soon as Dora and Charlie get back I'm going to plot with them—and Xander."

"Hey! How'd _I_ get dragged into this again?" protested Xander as Cordy dragged him out of the room.

"Shut up, Xander," she snapped. "Oh, and by the way, _Bill_, I'm calling in the twins on this one!"

Bill's face visibly paled and Cordy shot him a wicked grin as she dragged Xander out of the room. Bill looked around the table for a helping face, but all that was to be found were looks of pity and/or amusement. "I'm alone on this one, aren't I?" he said.

"Sorry son," said Arthur, clapping his eldest son on the shoulder in comfort. "Unless you can get the Marauders on your side you're screwed." Bill looked hopefully at the three remaining Marauders.

"Pregnant," said Jessi, sucking the peanut butter off of the spoon she had summoned.

"Werewolf—full moon tonight," said Remus, a wicked glint in his feral amber eyes.

"Are you kidding me?" said Sirius. "There's no bloody way I'm passing up the chance to see what Brownie and Co. are capable of. You're on your own, mate."

Bill's face fell. "Bollocks."

**XXXX**

About an hour before moonrise everyone but the five werewolves and the two non-pregnant animagi left—Jessi with much protestation. Willow stayed and chatted with Xander and Cordy in Cordy's room for about twenty minutes before their constant, incessant bickering finally grew to be too much for her to handle. Willow then spent the rest of the evening meeting and getting to know Bill, Molly and Arthur, Mya's twins, and (once she got back from work) Mya herself (the rest of the Weasley clan, besides Charlie, and Hermione Granger had all headed off to bed early—or so they claimed. Charlie and Tonks had spent the night at her flat, enjoying some quality best-friend time together before he had to head back to Romania). Eventually Mya took the twins to bed, followed closely by Bill, neither of whom reappeared. They were followed shortly by Molly and Arthur, who claimed exhaustion as they headed up to bed. This left Oz and Willow alone. Deciding their time would be better spent discussing the day's revelations in private, the young couple made their way up to the room Willow had been given and spent the rest of the night coming to terms with what they had learned that day.

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**~Reviews feed the soul and my dragon muse. Please no flames.~**


	20. Chapter 14: Sweet Revenge

**Silly little chapter. Lots of fun to write. ;) Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 14: Sweet Revenge**

_**July 13, 2003**_**:** Willow made her way downstairs the morning of the second (and worst) day of the full moon. She passed Mya as she descended. The magenta-haired black woman was leading a chocolate-skinned, violet-eyed teenage boy and girl up the stairs. Willow vaguely realized that they were most likely twins because (besides their gender) the only major difference she saw between them was that the boy had short black hair and the girl had silky, straight, black hair that fell down below her waist and was held back loosely by a purple headband. Willow felt a strange, mystical tug on her senses as she passed them, but the was too exhausted to process what it might mean.

"Morning Willow," chirped Mya. "How are you this fine morning?"

"Sleepy," said Willow. "Whozzat?"

"Oh, these are Chase's younger twin siblings, Chandler and Charisma Chance. Guys, I'd like you to meet Willow Evans. She's Mary and Harry's aunt on their mother's side." The violet-eyed twins mumbled their sleep-induced greetings to Willow. "Sorry," said Mya. "I'm afraid Chan and Riz aren't really morning people."

"'Skay, Mya. I'm not either. Need coffee—talk later," said Willow sleepily. Willow quickly continued down the stairs and headed towards the dining room before Mya could chat any more.

**XXXX**

Willow entered the dining room to behold the cutest sight ever. Finn, the littlest werewolf was lying in the corner of the room by the fireplace, curled up against a big, black dog, fast asleep. "They are cute, aren't they?" Mrs. Weasley whispered in Willow's ear, causing her to jump a little. "Sorry dear, I didn't mean to startle you. Coffee?"

"Thank you, Molly," said Willow, gratefully accepting the caffeinated beverage and joining the tired werewolves and Sirius at the table.

Willow sat down next to Oz, who gave her a soft peck on the forehead before returning to stoically sipping his coffee. Remus was half asleep, holding onto his nearly-full teacup tightly. Sirius was half-lying, sprawled out on the table, drooling and snoring gently. In complete contrast, Calli and her uber-pregnant twin Cleo were the perfect picture of composure as they sat regally and daintily sipped their tea. In the corner of the room the big, black dog stirred, opening his eerie grey eyes. With a soft POP a tall, black-haired youth appeared in the dog's place. Finn didn't even stir, so Sir (the dog-turned-human) simply stroked the little boy's shaggy chestnut locks and gratefully accepted a mug of coffee from Molly Weasley, who was bustling between the kitchen and the dining room, preparing breakfast for anyone who might want it.

The peaceful silence was rudely interrupted by a crash and a muffled yelp, followed by the all-too familiar shrieking of Mrs. Black's portrait. "HALF-BLOODS! FREAKS! STAINS OF DISHONOR! HOW DARE YOU SULLY THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS!"

Sirius snorted awake at the unpleasant sound of his mother's shrill, grating voice. "Goddamit!" he muttered darkly. "_Tonks_." He lurched up out of his seat and flew out to the hall to yell at his cousin for disturbing his sleep yet again, and on the morning after a full moon, no less.

"What a way to wake up," Jessi drawled as she sauntered into the dining room. "I think I'm officially awake now, along with the rest of the house."

"I thought you went home last night, Spotts," said Remus.

Jessi waddled over and hugged Remus around the shoulders. "Just 'cause I can't transform with you right now doesn't mean I'm going to _abandon_ you, RJ. I stayed here last night so I could make sure you were okay this morning."

"What about the kids?" asked Remus.

"I left Grace in charge. She's '_responsible_' after all."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," said Remus with a raise of his eyebrow.

Jessi gave him a "duh" look. "If I didn't _know_ any better, Moony, I'd say she was _yours_ instead of Padfoot's. She's responsible, neat, smart, well-behaved, a _prefect_—where the bloody hell'd I go wrong?!"

"What's so wrong with all that, Sissi?"

Jessi gave her best friend an incredulous look. "What's wrong? What's _wrong_, RJ?! She's- she's a _prefect_! She'll probably get Head Girl this year too! Where the _bloody_ hell'd I go wrong, Moony?"

Remus sighed in exasperation; this was one argument _no one_ ever won against Jessi. "Sissi—"

"Where, Remus, _where_?! I mean—" Jessi was suddenly shut up by Molly, who shoved a spoonful of peanut butter into her open mouth. Suddenly blissfully content, Jessi took the jar of peanut butter from Molly and sank down silently into the seat next to Remus. Willow glanced quickly over at Finn and was more than a little surprised to see that the young werewolf was still fast asleep, curled up on his brother's lap.

"Thank you, Molly," said Remus, rubbing his temples. Molly smiled at the werewolf, gave his shoulder a quick squeeze, and returned to the kitchen. The smells of toast, eggs, pancakes, and sausage were beginning to waft through the house.

"Wotcher, all!" chirped a cheerful voice. Willow looked over to see a tall brunette woman, who reminded her an awful lot of Xander, follow a grumbling Sirius into the room. Sirius plopped back down next to Jessi and attempted to steal her peanut butter ("_MINE!_" she growled), but to no avail. Tonks (the brunette woman) settled herself down next to Remus and smiled cheerfully across the table at Willow. "Wotcher," she said. "I'm Tonks."

"I'm Willow," she replied, "and this is my boyfriend Oz."

"Nice to meet you. I love your hair, by the way." To Willow's amazement and amusement, Tonks morphed her hair to match Willow's, her natural gray eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Oh, oh!" Willow exclaimed. "You're Dora! You're Xander's sister!"

"You know Xander?" said Tonks, puzzled.

"He's only my bestest best friend in the whole wide world," she replied with a huge grin. "We've known each other since we were really little."

"Oh! You're _that_ Willow! He talks about you all the time, you know."

Willow smiled. "Good," she said. She looked at Tonks and Remus, seeing their surreptitious glances at each other, and she couldn't resist asking, "So, are you and Remus a couple, Dora?"

Remus and Tonks both blushed as Jessi and Sirius snickered evilly at them. "Well, I—I mean we—" stuttered Tonks.

"I—Nymphadora and I—that's just—" Remus stuttered and Jessi elbowed him hard in the ribs. He winced (he was still quite sore from his transformation just hours ago), rolled his eyes, and said, "What I _meant_ to say was, not exactly, but—Nymphadora, would you like to out to lunch with me this afternoon?"

Dora blushed, her hair morphing to her favorite bubble-gum pink spikes. "I'd love to, Remus," she replied.

"Wonderful," Remus said. After their short conversation, the two simply sat with silly grins plastered on their faces for a good minute and a half.

"You two can thank me'n Jess for those heart-to-hearts now," said Sirius. Tonks and Remus shared a look. As one, they raised their wands at Sirius and shot a series of silent spells at the meddling animagus. Sirius began to freak out when he couldn't figure out what they had done to him. "Moooooony, what'd you do to me?" he whined. Remus conjured up a small hand mirror and handed it to Sirius with a satisfied smirk.

Sirius cautiously raised the mirror to his face and looked at himself, shuddering as he surveyed the damage. Remus and Tonks had transfigured his normal-sized, aristocratic nose into a huge, honking beak, the likes of which he had only ever seen on one Snivellus Snape. But that wasn't all, oh no. The mischievous duo had also charmed his skin green (like Elphaba), transfigured his robes to a _lovely_ shade of hot pink with small mewling white kittens on them, and—horror of horrors—charmed all his beautiful ebony hair away.

"_Spoooooots_," Sirius whimpered, "Moony and Tonks are being mean to me."

"Hell if I care," snorted Jessi. "You tried to steal my peanut butter, you wanker."

"But _Jeeeesi_—"

"Holy begeebers on toast! What happened here, cuz?"

Sirius scowled at Xander as he walked into the room, a huge grin on his face as he surveyed the damage done to Sirius. "Moony and Tonks are being mean to me," he huffed.

"Aw, suck it up, you big baby," yawned Cordy, coming in behind Xander, dressed only in the button-up shirt he had worn the day before.

"Cordy," said Willow, "why aren't you wearing anything besides Xander's shirt?"

Cordy blushed, her perfectly tanned skin turning bright red. "Shut up," she snapped. "I _really_ don't want to talk about it."

"But I thought—" protested Xander.

"I said _shut up_, Xander," she hissed.

"Did you—" said Dora, glancing back and forth from a very red and happy Xander to an equally red and mortified Cordy, "—you _did_! Good on you, Cor!" she exclaimed with a large, toothy grin.

"Shut up," Cordy hissed, her face nearing embarrassed Weasley red.

"What's going on?" asked Sirius, puzzled and clueless as usual.

Dora winked at Cordy. "Don't worry Cor," she said, "I won't tell him if he can't figure it out for himself."

Cordy groaned and sank down into an empty seat at the table. "I am _so_ screwed," she moaned as she buried her head in her arm on the table.

"Oh, I know _that_," said Dora.

"Shut _up_, Dora!"

"Hey!" interjected Sirius. "Is someone gonna fix me here? Moony? Spotts? Tonks? Anybody?"

The three aforementioned friends looked at each other. "Nah," they said in unison, standing up and leaving the room together.

"Jessi? Remy? Dory? _Pleeeease!_" cried Sirius, chasing after them desperately.

And through it all little Finn Lupin slept peacefully on, safely tucked away in his big brother's lap.

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**Afternote:** The encounter with the twins on the stairs will be important later in the story, just fyi. ;)


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